The New England Patriots are on the cusp of making a change at the quarterback position. Their starter, Mac Jones, has been benched in their last two games, embarrassing losses at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints.
Heading into a Week 6 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, Jones will once again be under center at the start of the game. How long he remains on the field, however, is another question as his performance level has dropped off a cliff.
The Patriots offense has been abysmal despite the change to have Bill O’Brien on the staff as the offensive coordinator. This unit has struggled to get the job done in any facet, which is partly to play for Jones’s struggles. But, at the end of the day, he just hasn’t played very well.
In his stead the last two games, the Patriots have turned to Bailey Zappe to take over as the quarterback. While it would be fair to assume he would be in line to do so again should Jones falter, Greg Bedard of The Boston Journal shared that a change could be made in that regard as well.
During an appearance on Felger & Mazz on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Bedard revealed that it could be Will Grier, not Zappe, taking over at quarterback if Jones falters again. “From talking to people around the team, I think, if Mac Jones doesn’t succeed this week — if he doesn’t retain his job — I think it’s Will Grier’s,” said Bedard.
Grier, a third-round pick out of West Virginia in 2019, hasn’t played a regular-season snap since that season with the Carolina Panthers. The results were ugly as he lost both games, completing only 53.8 percent of his passes for 228 yards, zero touchdowns and four interceptions.
However, he has developed some since that time, as he was excellent starting the final preseason game for the Cowboys before they released him following the acquisition of Trey Lance. Grier landed on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad, where the Patriots signed him from.
Grier has been the emergency quarterback for New England for the last three weeks, eligible to play if Jones and Zappe both get hurt. But, it sounds like there is a chance he and Zappe will be flipping roles in Week 6 against the Raiders.
It certainly wouldn’t hurt to see what Grier has to offer. The Patriots haven’t received positive play from Zappe when his number has been called either, so giving the former Mountaineer a chance can’t lead to worse results than they have already been receiving.
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