Patriots players reveal bizarre handling of QB situation

It appears any supposed drama regarding who would start at quarterback for the New England Patriots between Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe at the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon was just for show. 

According to Mark Daniels of MassLive, New England running back Ezekiel Elliott revealed after the 10-7 loss to the Giants that dropped New England to 2-9 on the season that "we knew the whole time" Jones would start over Zappe. 

"Yeah, we basically knew Mac was the starter all week in practice," fellow ball-carrier Rhamondre Stevenson acknowledged. "It was kind of the same thing." 

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick previously pulled a struggling Jones from three games this season, most recently during the 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 12 that preceded New England's bye. Belichick suggested throughout midweek practices he wouldn't officially name a starter until Sunday, but Jones hinted before Thanksgiving Day he'd begin the Giants contest under center. 

"It was more split in reps, but Mac was out there leading the charge," Stevenson said about how Jones and Zappe handled practices last week. 

Whatever Belichick attempted to accomplish, his plan backfired in a big way. He benched Jones yet again after the 2021 first-round draft pick tossed two interceptions before halftime of Sunday's matchup, but Zappe managed to engineer only one scoring drive during the rain-soaked encounter. Zappe completed 9-of-14 passes for 54 yards with a pick versus the Giants, and he may or may not be New England's QB1 for the club's home game against the 4-7 Los Angeles Chargers this coming Sunday. 

"I don’t announce starters," Belichick said during a Monday morning appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI. "I don’t announce starters at any position." 

Multiple outlets reported before the Giants game that some or most of Jones' teammates had lost faith in him. Per ESPN stats, he began Monday ranked 28th out of 30 qualified players with a 36.6 adjusted QBR on the season. He tossed 12 interceptions and 10 touchdown passes across New England's first 11 contests.