On the final offensive play of the Patriots’ loss today to the Ravens, quarterback Mac Jones suffered an ankle injury that left him in lots of pain as he was carried to the locker room. The team believes Jones sustained a high-ankle sprain, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, and he will undergo an MRI tomorrow to confirm and determine the severity of the injury. 
Jones has had a tough start to his sophomore season after a rookie year that earned him a Pro Bowl bid as an alternate for the quarterback he played against today, Lamar Jackson, who sat out of last year’s all-star game due to injury. After Jones earned praise in Year 1 for protecting the football with a touchdown to interception ratio of 22 to 13, the same has been difficult to say this season as he’s only thrown two touchdowns to five interceptions in the first three weeks. Much of this can surely be attributed to the change of offensive coordinators, but, unfortunately, this new health-scare will only make it more difficult for Jones to improve under the new guidance.
If the MRI tomorrow confirms the diagnosis and reveals that Jones will miss time, Brian Hoyer is currently listed as the primary backup for the quarterback position. Rookie fourth-round pick Bailey Zappe is the third quarterback on the depth chart. Zappe has obviously never started in an NFL game, but he did set a record with 62 touchdown passes last season for the Hilltoppers, besting the former college record-holder Joe Burrow, by two.
Hoyer, on the other hand, has extensive experience from his 13 years in the league. The journeyman quarterback has worn seven franchises’ jerseys and is currently in his third stint with the Patriots. Despite a career as a backup quarterback, Hoyer has appeared in at least one game every year of his career and thrown at least one pass in every season, as well. He’s also been in position to start 39 games over the years, getting to serve as a team’s main quarterback for the season twice: in 2014 for the Browns and in 2015 for the Texans. In both situations that he started a majority of a team’s games for the season, he had a winning record as a starter, going 7-6 in Cleveland and 5-4 in Houston.
With Jones’ injury, it’s looking like Hoyer will get a chance to extend those streaks. If Jones ends up missing a longer period of time, it might be more prudent to get Zappe, their 23-year-old backup, some live NFL snaps, as Hoyer inches closer to his 37th birthday next month. Regardless, the task of keeping up with the Dolphins (3-0) and the Bills (2-1) in the AFC East just got a lot more challenging for New England.
It doesn’t matter. The Patriots should tank this season.
Bailey Zappe set his college TD pass record for Western Kentucky.
Get ready, it’s Hoyer time!
If the high ankle sprain is moderate, the recovery time is 3-6 weeks.
If it’s a severe sprain, the recovery time is months.
Based on the level of pain he was in, I would guess it’s more likely a severe sprain.
Even before this injury, the Patriots still need a long term solution for QB as Mac is not the answer…. look 10 years down the round and Mac Jones is Brian Hoyer…. a back up QB with smarts, but limited high end skills.
Lmao when Hoyer has a year anywhere close to what Mac did as a rookie let me know. Not a great comp
Why does an answer have to be a decade long answer? If you go back to 2012, a whopping six starting QBs are still starting QBs this season (not counting Flacco, who was a backup forced into action this year).
If the best path to contention is a rookie deal QB, isn’t the bigger problem here that the Pats followed up a promising rookie season from their QB with a total transformation of their offense overseen by Matt %$&#ing Patricia?