Bill Belichick has found himself having to answer a plethora of questions after opting to pull starting quarterback Mac Jones for rookie backup Bailey Zappe in Monday night’s loss to the Bears.
However, the Patriots coach maintains that the decision to do so was pre-arranged.
Belichick first said after the game that the plan was for both quarterbacks to see the field and that both players were informed of the situation ahead of time. Some of the team’s other players, including receiver Jakobi Meyers, expressed some confusion about the decision to pull Jones, but Belichick doubled down, saying that there was no lack of communication regarding the move.
“I talked to the quarterbacks,” he said on WEEI Tuesday morning, per Phil Perry. “I talked to the leaders of the team… There was no lack of communication.”
Belichick also insisted that Jones would have re-entered the game in the second half had the score been closer. New England never quite found its way back in the contest, eventually falling to Chicago, 33–14.
“We were gonna play both quarterbacks and that’s what we did… We made the change,” Belichick explained. “That’s what we were planning to do. We did that. The game got out of hand there in the third quarter.”
Jones echoed Belichick’s comments about the pre-arranged plan for both quarterbacks to play, but admitted that he wanted to perform better with the opportunity that he was given.
"I think Coach Belichick had a really good plan for us. I understood the plan and what was going to happen ... and the timing is the timing. We were on the same page, and there's no hard feelings or anything," Jones said Monday.
“I wish I played better when I was in there… We definitely want to play better as a team and we’re gonna go that. We’re all gonna work together and put our best foot forward.”
Pre-arranged plan or not, Belichick has seemingly opened the doors for a quarterback controversy in New England, especially after he declined to commit to a starter on Monday night and again in Tuesday morning’s press conference. The Patriots situation will certainly be something to watch ahead of this upcoming weekend’s game against the Jets.
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