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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Coming off a game in which he was benched following a late fourth-quarter interception, quarterback Mac Jones was given the start by New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick on Sunday against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
Belichick hadn’t told Jones and top backup Bailey Zappe of his plans throughout the week of practice leading up to the game. His message was that everybody, at every position, needed to be ready.
Sources said practice repetitions during the week had been split about 50-50 between Jones and Zappe, with Jones usually getting the initial nod. The complexity of the Giants’ blitz schemes under coordinator Wink Martindale, and Jones’ aptitude at sorting through them, had led some in the locker room to believe that Jones had the edge during the week.
The Patriots entered Sunday at 2-8, the worst record in the AFC, and shaky quarterback play has been among the myriad issues that have contributed to them averaging just 14.1 points per game.
Jones has been pulled from three games this season, beginning with blowout losses to the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints in the fourth and fifth weeks of the season.
Then, in a Week 10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt, Germany, with the Patriots on the cusp of a go-ahead touchdown with 4:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, Jones badly underthrew tight end Mike Gesicki in the end zone for a back-breaking interception.
Belichick benched him in favor of Zappe with the Patriots trailing 10-6 and a chance for a potential touchdown drive when they got the ball back with 1:52 remaining at their own 14-yard line. After gaining 26 yards over the first seven plays of the drive, Zappe threw an interception into heavy traffic over the middle to extinguish those hopes.
Jones is 212-of-324 for 2,031 yards with 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He has been sacked 21 times.
Zappe is 10-of-25 for 104 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception.