The New England Patriots have reportedly picked the winner of the quarterback battle for their Week 12 matchup against the New York Giants.
Three-year starter Mac Jones is expected to start, according to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald.
The former first-round draft pick has struggled, to say the least, this season, and he’s on track to have his worst season of football as a starter.
Jones has already been benched three times this season with backup Bailey Zappe taking his place. The latest incident occurred in Germany, where Jones was pulled late in the fourth quarter. Several think the benching was due to Jones throwing an ugly interception in the red zone. Nevertheless, similar to his other two appearances. Bailey Zappe didn’t elevate the team; instead, he did so through a game-ending interception of his own. Zappe has only completed 40% of his passes (10/25), recording zero touchdowns during his relief appearances.
In Typical fashion, Bill Belichick refrained from telling the media his plans going into Week 12.
“I’ve told everybody to be ready to go,” Belichick said. “Hopefully, that’s what they’re all doing. I’m not going to announce starters at every position or whatever. Everybody will be ready to go.”
However, earlier in the week, Mac Jones told reporters he was going through this week like any other week in his NFL career.
“I always work hard for that. I really put a lot of attention to detail into the week, as I talked about. A lot of that decision-making is things I can’t control, but I can control my attitude and my effort, as I talked about. I’m really thankful overall just to be in the NFL and to be playing quarterback on Thanksgiving, right? It’s a great week to be grateful for a lot of things. To play this game, the game we love, together, I think that means a lot to me regardless of the situation.”
In addition, the Patriots waived third-string quarterback WIll Grier on Saturday morning, confirming the quarterback competition is between Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe only. The roster moves made room for OT Conor McDermott, who was out of game-day roster elevations.
The Patriots’ kick off against the Giants at MetLife Stadium at 1:00 p.m.
My name is Ben Belford-Peltzman and I am the creator and writer of The Patriots Beat. I am a 17-year kid who is an optimistic pessimist about the City of Champions. I started The Patriots Beat in August of 2022 and never expected to grow so much but here we are. Feel free to email Thepatriotsbeat@gmail.com with any inquires.
