Bailey Zappe started his fifth-straight game for the New England Patriots on Sunday and Mac Jones was displeased. The former first-round pick had to watch his replacement play what is arguably the worst single quarter of football by any quarterback in the NFL this year while riding the bench.
Zappe began the game with six completions, kind of. There was one pretty significant problem.
Three of those passes went to the other team. He went 9-of-17 with three interceptions during the first 30 minutes of play. Big yikes.
Mac Jones was disgusted.
Mac Jones, who was relegated to the backup role after a rough stretch of losses to start the year, looked absolutely repulsed by Zappe’s performance. CBS cut to his reaction on the sideline after the second of three picks. To say that he was displeased would be an understatement.
Jones was all by himself as the offense returned to the sideline. He walked in the other direction.
While doing so, Jones looked back for a moment only to shake his head in disgust.
The entire debacle surrounding New England’s signal-callers has been a mess. And no matter who starts, there is very little guarantee that he will play better than the alternative.
Jones is clearly tired of all the back and forth. He wants to be out there. He wants to play.
It will be interesting to see what Jones has to say if/when asked about his reaction. There is a chance that this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. There is a chance that Jones may finally snap.
Regardless of what is to play out during the final week of the season, to see Jones back under center for the Patriots at any point in the future would be a surprise. His body language says everything that needs to be said. That relationship is soured.