Belichick: Mac Jones to remain Patriots' starter despite benching vs. Saints
The New England Patriots benched quarterback Mac Jones for the second straight game down 31-0 to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Jones completed 12 of 22 passes for 150 yards and two interceptions. Despite the struggles, Patriots coach Bill Belichick doesn't expect a change at QB for New England.
"Yeah," Belichick said postgame when asked if Jones will remain the starter moving forward, according to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. "There are a lot of problems. Certainly wasn't all him."
Belichick added that he removed Jones from the Saints game because of the score.
"Just not being ready to go, I guess," Jones said Sunday about his team's slow starts, according to Mike Kadlick of WEEI.
Bailey Zappe took over for Jones versus New Orleans. Zappe had only nine attempts in Week 5, completing three passes for 22 yards.
Jones was also removed in favor of Zappe during last week's 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. In that contest, Jones threw just 150 yards and gave up three turnovers (two interceptions and one fumble), two of which were returned for touchdowns.
Belichick said Friday he believes Jones can bounce back.
"Anybody who plays or coaches in this league has not-so-good performances somewhere along the line," Belichick said, according to Conor Roche of Boston.com. "So, part of the job, part of the situation, every week's a new week. Mac's pretty mentally tough."
A 2021 first-round pick, Jones produced a strong rookie campaign, completing 67.6% of his passes for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.
But the 25-year-old regressed in Year 2, throwing for 2,997 yards and 14 scores against 11 picks. He missed time with an ankle injury and was briefly benched for Zappe during a Monday night matchup against the Chicago Bears.
New England entered Week 5 with a 1-3 record and owned the third-worst offense in the NFL, averaging 13.8 points per game.