New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick might be holding an open quarterback competition for the second consecutive week.
Mac Jones started last Sunday against the New York Giants despite being benched for the final drive of New England’s previous game. Bailey Zappe then took over in the second half after Jones was once again terrible. It is unclear if Belichick planned to play both quarterbacks anyway, as he refused to name a starter leading up to the game.
Belichick was asked on Tuesday if he plans to name a starting quarterback for the Patriots’ upcoming game against the Los Angeles Chargers. He hinted once again that he has not reached a decision.
“Yeah, I’m not gonna make any announcements on our lineup at any position,” Belichick said. “It doesn’t matter what position. We’ll see how practice goes and see if everybody’s ready to go, hope everybody’s ready to go, see what the injury situation is and see who’s ready to go on Sunday.”
A reporter then asked Belichick if he is concerned about taking the same approach this week given how disastrous the results were in his team’s 10-7 loss to the Giants. He indicated that he might name a starter privately but is not going to share that information with the media.
“Yeah, I didn’t say (I’m using the same approach). I just said I’m not gonna announce anything,” Belichick replied.
Bill Belichick once again asked numerical questions about QBs and if he’ll announce a starting QB this week. @wbz .@Patriots pic.twitter.com/bibmtgAYq5
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) November 29, 2023
Part of the problem for the Patriots is that Zappe is not a significant upgrade over Jones, even with how poorly Jones has played. The fact that Jones has not lost his job yet speaks volumes about the lack of talent in New England’s quarterback room.
If you want to know just how bad the Patriots have been on offense this season, look no further than this wild stat that went viral. Belichick probably knows that it doesn’t matter which quarterback he starts. This is the roster he assembled, and he is now stuck with it for the remainder of the season.
