It’s not going well for the New England Patriots in 2023. It’s really not going well for the Patriots quarterback situation.
In Sunday’s 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt, Germany, New England head coach Bill Belichick had enough of Mac Jones as his quarterback. And rightfully so; Jones took some bad sacks and threw a soul-crushing red-zone INT late in the game. The pick was Jones’ 10th of the season, the most in the NFL.
Jones’ first two seasons in New England were underwhelming but not disastrous. The third year teeters a lot closer to the latter, and the lack of progress in Jones’ processing of the defense and pocket manipulation are not promising. It was very apparent in Germany, where the Patriots run game looked very good and Jones’ receivers were getting open pretty well. Didn’t help Jones, unfortunately.
In Week 10, the Patriots yanked Jones late for Bailey Zappe. The second-year backup threw an even worse INT than Jones could ever muster on a fake spike to seal the loss.
The lifeless loss dropped the Patriots to 2-7 as they hit their bye week. Currently, New England holds the No. 3 overall pick (pending the rest of Week 10). It’s become evident that the Mac Jones experiment isn’t going to work for Belichick. Zappe might solidify himself as the long-term backup if he takes over the rest of the season, but that’s his apparent ceiling.
It’s time to put the Patriots firmly in the conversation for both the No. 1 overall pick in 2024 and high up in the list of teams looking to select a first-round quarterback in April.