The 2-9 New England Patriots cannot get their offense going, as evidenced in Week 12, once again prompting the question of who will start at quarterback for the team going forward. And once again, the answer is unclear.
"I didn't announce the starter (last week) and I'm not gonna announce starters at every position every week," Bill Belichick said. "I get asked that every week. … that's not really what I'm going to do."
Naturally, Belichick was asked who the starting quarterback will be in Week 13 against the Chargers, as it is once again up in the air, especially with Mac Jones getting benched at halftime in their Week 12 loss to the Giants in favor of Bailey Zappe.
"We'll take a look at this week," was Belichick's quick response that gave no insight on what the offense could look like in Week 13.
When they look at the Week 12 film they will see another rough performance from Jones, who went 12-for-21 with 89 yards, two interceptions and multiple other near picks. Zappe didn't fare much better, going 9-for-14 for 54 yards with an interception.
The quarterback situation at Gillette Stadium has been a mess, of course. Jones was named the original starter this season, with the team waiving backup Zappe -- first signing him to the practice squad, then elevating him to the active roster and eventually having him replace a benched Jones in multiple games.
There has certainly been a lot of moving pieces in New England, and none of it is working.
When looking for who to blame for the Patriots' inept offense, Jones is the player people are pointing fingers at most, and for good reason. The third-year quarterback's decision-making is questionable and even he noted that he needs to work on not making bad plays worse. This season, Jones has more interceptions (12) than he does touchdowns (10).
Jones joined the team as the No. 15 overall pick in 2021 and after a decent rookie season, his production has decreased. When asked if he was fully on board with drafting Jones, or whether it was more of a decision by owner Rob Kraft, Bill Belichick said at the time, "organizationally we thought [drafting Jones] was the right thing to do."
Hindsight is 20/20, and things obviously have not panned out the way the team had hoped with their first round pick. Through the bye week and into Week 12, there were question marks surrounding who would be the team's starting QB, given Jones' performance so far this season.
Belichick would not publicly say who was starting heading into Week 12 and told both Jones and Zappe to be ready.
After Sunday's 10-7 loss to the Giants, tight end Hunter Henry said he didn't even know until the last minute whether it would be Jones or Bailey Zappe throwing passes against the Giants.
"I don't know," said Belichick (via WEEI), when asked how an offensive player could possibly not know the starter, before saying that it is offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien who mostly meets with the offense.
Back in 2001, when the team had Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady, Belichick said it is was disservice to the starter quarterback to take reps away and make it 50/50 in practice when two QBs were competing for the job. It would seem that if Jones was getting the majority of the reps, he should have been announced as the starter, and if it was 50/50, then Belichick was going against his previous thoughts on a quarterback competition.
Belichick explained that it was Jones who got the majority of the first-team reps heading into Week 12 and it should not have surprised anyone on the offense that he was the starter. He said Jones was chosen because they felt he had a good week at practice, but also said Zappe got enough reps in to be prepared in the event he would be called up.
"I don't announce starters. I don't announce starters at any position," Belichick said last week on why he did not name who QB1 would be against the Giants.
The quarterback position is not treated the same as who is starting at other positions, even if that's what The Hoodie wants us to believe. The always stubborn head coach has not budged on his stance of not naming any starter.
Belichick put an emphasis on not turning the ball over as much and said while the individuals may need to improve, at the end of the day it's a team sport, and the team needs to come together and execute at a higher level. He said "ball security" and "decision making" are two areas to target.
At this point, while Belichick does say the players are still mentally at a high level, preparing and fighting for wins, most Patriots fans are hoping for a high draft pick to select their next quarterback.
