New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick would not reveal who would be his starting quarterback for Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bears. Would it be Mac Jones, returning from an ankle injury that had cose him the previous three games, or would it be rookie backup Bailey Zappe, who looked quite good in relief of Jones?
As it turned out, the answer was both. Jones started the game, and then, early in the second quarter, things started to fall apart for the second-year man. Jones threw an interception to Bears safety Jaquan Brisker. And Jones set this up by booting Brisker in the unmentionables three plays before the interception happened…
Jaquan Brisker just got kicked where you don't want to get kicked. 😳pic.twitter.com/Kua2kAXcgX
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 25, 2022
…and then, Brisker, the rookie from Penn State, got Jones back for it.
Holy Jaquan Brisker! The rookie with a really damn impressive one-handed INT. He can play, Folks. #Bears #NFL pic.twitter.com/BJiVEjBKs1
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) October 25, 2022
The Bears had a three-and-out on their next drive, and when New England’s offense was back on the field, Jones wasn’t. Zappe was in, and Jones was seen saying on the sideline, “I’m out.” He did not appear to be injured.
As for Zappe, he hit Jakobi Meyers with this deep touchdown pass four plays into his first drive.
Bailey Zappe to Jakobi Meyers for a TD! #ForeverNE
📺: #CHIvsNE on ESPN
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/2HQeNdaFPc pic.twitter.com/sQSRQLKdEo— NFL (@NFL) October 25, 2022
Not the prettiest thing you’ll ever see, but as Jones started out on drives ending in two punts and that interception, it’s hard to argue with the result.
On the Patriots’ next drive, Zappe hit DeVante Parker on this deep throw, which Parker did a great job jumping to grab.
Bailey Zappe making things Zappen!
DeVante Parker with the 👀👀👀👀👀 Catch
— PlayerProfiler (@rotounderworld) October 25, 2022
Two plays later, Rhamondre Stevenson scored on a four-yard run, giving Zappe two straight touchdown drives.
Not to read too much into this, but New England’s offense has been more dynamic this season with Zappe than with Jones, and this benching might be an obvious indicator that Belichick is well aware of this.
