Things haven’t looked good for Mac Jones and the Patriots this season. And he did himself no favors in New England’s 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in Germany. The quarterback threw for 170 yards with an ill-advised interception in the fourth quarter. Despite having a wide-open Mike Gesicki, Jones elected to throw it right into the hands of the Colts in the final four minutes of the game.
Jones was benched for Bailey Zappe, who also threw an interception into triple coverage on the Patriots’ final drive of the game.
New England is 2-8 going into its Week 11 bye. It’s unclear whether Jones will be the starter against the New York Giants or if Zappe will get the nod. Neither quarterback has given teammates or staff confidence that they’re the answer at the position, and it’s fair to wonder whether the locker room believes in Jones after a disastrous 10 weeks.
On the latest episode of “Eye On Foxborough,” MassLive Patriots reporters Mark Daniels and Chris Mason discuss what the mood of the locker room was after the loss, and whether the Patriots have lost faith in Jones.
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“Yes, absolutely,” Daniels said when asked if the locker room is done with Jones. “So, after the game I like to observe people. … I’m watching Mac, and I noticed that when he came to the locker room and he was changing, he was sitting down kind getting stuff ready to go. No one talked to him. Guys were walking by him looking at the floor, not looking at him. I saw a couple guys give him these quick, awkward glances and immediately looked down at their feet. It was brutally awkward in there around him. And after that, he goes to talk to the podium where his voice is really cracky. It kind of sounded like he wanted to cry.”
“It’s tough too because he tries to do the right thing,” Mason said. “I was watching him after we had a feeling after that pick that he was gonna get benched and Bailey got up on the sideline, he starts throwing. So I think it’s always fascinating to watch players when that’s going on where like, he gets the, ‘Hey, you’re done. Bailey’s going in’ and so on. He walked up to every single person on the offense, gave them a fist bump and said something to him. He was being a captain in that moment. But I don’t know how many times you can say whatever you’re saying it before it falls on deaf ears if the results aren’t there.”
The Patriots will desperately try to reset during the bye week and get back in the win column against the Giants. Whether they try to do that under Jones or Zappe remains to be seen, but it will be a decision that Bill Belichick will have to mull over the next week.
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