Malik Cunningham

DECEMBER 1: Zappe will indeed make his first start of the season Sunday, Howe reports, adding Cunningham is on track to play as a specialty package performer. Cunningham made his debut against the Raiders in October, logging six snaps, but has not suited up since. It is unlikely Jones sees action, per Howe, unless circumstances change during the game (as they have often this year for the Patriots).

While the repeated Jones benchings have pointed to this happening, it will still mark a significant change. The former first-rounder has only missed three starts in his three-year career, each coming due to injury.

NOVEMBER 30: Replacing Mac Jones on several occasions this season, Bailey Zappe has not made a start in his second NFL campaign. Signs are pointing to that changing in Week 13.

The Patriots are preparing to give the record-setting college passer a start over Jones this week, The Athletic’s Jeff Howe tweets. Bill Belichick is again not planning to announce his starting quarterback, but Jones’ second-year backup took the bulk of the first-team snaps in practice Wednesday, according to MassLive.com’s Mark Daniels.

Zappe made two starts for an injured Jones last season. With the Patriots winning both those games, the Western Kentucky alum generated some momentum. But Jones did not cede his job upon returning from the high ankle sprain he sustained. As Belichick-Jones tension simmered coming out of the former first-round pick’s step-back 2022 campaign, Zappe was rumored to have a shot at the starting job. But a true competition did not materialize in camp. Jones’ game action in his third season has changed this equation.

Two years after guiding the Pats to the playoffs, Jones sits 28th in QBR. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions, two of those picks coming last week. The Alabama product is averaging just 6.1 yards per attempt, and while New England’s receiving corps resides as one of the NFL’s worst, Jones has regressed to the point he is far from a lock to be part of the 2024 Patriots.

This Zappe bump does come after multiple reports of the 2022 fourth-rounder failing to impress in practice, with issues developing in Bill O’Brien‘s system being at the root of these struggles. Zappe continued to encounter issues during in-season practices, but with Jones scuffling each week during games, he has made four second-half cameos. After completing 70.7% of his passes as a rookie, Zappe has connected on just 48.7% of his throws — albeit on just 39 tosses — this year. Zappe came to Foxborough after setting the Division I-FBS single-season touchdown pass record, throwing 62 in the Hilltoppers’ pass-heavy offense in 2021 to break Joe Burrow‘s record.

The Patriots do not have a good option here. Belichick’s team is barreling toward a top-five draft pick, sitting third in the early 2024 order after 11 games. This should be expected to produce another first-round QB investment, though Belichick may not be around to make that move. For now, this Jones-or-Zappe pattern persists. Neither rookie UDFA Malik Cunningham nor third-rounder-turned-journeyman Will Grier profile as players the team is ready to consider for starts, per ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano, though each could conceivably be an option as the Belichick era’s worst season moves toward the finish line.

Zappe, Cunningham and Grier have each been exposed to waivers this year, but no team claimed any of the New England backups. The Pats’ Matt Corral experiment fizzled early as well. This leaves Zappe as the lone viable alternative ahead of the Patriots’ matchup with the Chargers, but considering the way the team has operated at QB this season, Jones probably should not get too comfortable on the bench.

OCTOBER 15: Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirms that Jones is indeed on a short leash, and that if he should struggle in the first few series of today’s game against the Raiders, Belichick could pull the plug and insert another quarterback.

Who that quarterback would be, however, is unclear. Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal recently told 98.5 The Sports Hub (as relayed by Karen Guregian of MassLive Sports) that Grier would likely be the next man up if Jones is benched. While Rapoport does not go that far, he does say that Grier and Zappe split reps in practice this week and that, despite Grier’s current status as QB3, the former third-round pick of the Panthers could be the one to get the nod.

It is also worth noting, as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes, that Cunningham received increased quarterback reps in practice this week after spending the majority of his pro career to date working on his transition to wideout. That surely does not mean that he would be called upon to replace Jones, but O’Brien believes Cunningham — who was just signed to the active roster — is one of the Pats’ most improved p-squad players. Rapoport adds that the club does have a package installed for the versatile weapon.

OCTOBER 12: Mac Jones and the Patriots offense has struggled mightily this season, especially over the past two weeks. The third-year quarterback has tossed four interceptions, lost a pair of fumbles, and earned two benchings in those two contests, with the offense failing to find the end zone in either of those two losses.

Many have started to question if Jones will continue as the QB1 for the Patriots. While it doesn’t sound like the leash is very long, the Patriots coaching staff made it clear this week that the former first-round pick will be under center this weekend against the Raiders. Coach Bill Belichick told reporters that the team won’t be “making any changes” (via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport), while offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien said he expects Jones in the lineup on Sunday.

“It’s not about one guy,” O’Brien said when asked about Jones’ struggles (via ESPN’s Mike Reiss). “He’d be the first to tell you that there’s things that he has to do better, whether it’s obviously take care of the ball, maybe read the route better, or get us into a better play. But it’s a collective effort.”

While Jones is expected to stay in the starting lineup, it sounds like the team is prepared to make a change if needed. Jeff Howe of The Athletic tweets that this will be an important week of practice for the starter, and the Patriots will continue to “evaluate every position on the roster.” Following New England’s Week 5 loss to the Saints, Belichick acknowledged that the team was “starting over,” an indication that everyone’s spot on the depth chart would be reconsidered.

Part of the reason the Patriots haven’t already pivoted away from Jones is because of their lack of faith in the organization’s other QBs. As Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald write, 2022 fourth-round pick Bailey Zappe has struggled during his second season in the NFL. A source told the Herald that Zappe had a “rough transition to the new offense” under O’Brien, and that ultimately led to the team cutting the quarterback at the end of the preseason.

The other 31 teams passed on Zappe, and he ultimately landed back on the Patriots’ active roster (following a quick stop on the practice squad). The team has since shuffled through multiple options at QB3. Will Grier is the current third option at the position, but even Belichick recently noted how difficult it is for players to climb the depth chart during the season. While rookie Malik Cunningham intrigued during the preseason, the Patriots seem committed to the player’s transition to wide receiver. The lack of alternative options explains why Jones will continue as the starter.

Following a successful rookie season, it’s surprising that the Alabama has taken such a significant step back over the past year-plus. According to the Herald duo, much of the blame has been placed on the organization, as Jones has shuffled through three offensive coordinators, an inconsistent and injury-plagued offensive line, and an underwhelming receivers corps.

However, sources also noted that Jones hasn’t done anything to help his case. The quarterback’s tape is “littered with inexcusable errors,” and while the lack of protection and weapons hasn’t helped, Jones is still making fundamental mistakes. In fact, according to the Herald, some in the organization recognized that Jones wasn’t the guy following the 2022 campaign, but the Patriots hoped the QB wouldn’t be bad enough to sabotage their chances.

“We know Mac isn’t going to win for us. He needs to be comfortable,” a team source told the Herald this summer. “But we think we can win with him. We’ll see.”

The team hasn’t done much winning this season, with their lone victory coming against the Jets. Jones will get another chance at redemption this weekend, but it’s uncertain how much longer he’ll stick atop the depth chart if the offense continues to struggle.