Waking up on Tuesday, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will have Monday night's surprise drubbing to the Chicago Bears fresh in his mind and a quarterback conundrum to unravel.
The Pats allowed 23 unanswered points to Justin Fields' Bears, slumping to 3-4 on the season with scrutiny high on the quarterback position. Starter Mac Jones returned from an ankle injury but was benched early in the second quarter after capping a sluggish start at Foxborough with an interception.
Rookie backup Bailey Zappe, who impressed in the successive wins against the Detriot Lions and Cleveland Browns in Jones' absence came in and sparked the offence into life, leading a pair of touchdown drives until the Bears retook control and claimed a 33-14 victory on the road.
After the game, Belichick insisted it was always his plan to play both quarterbacks on Monday, but he decided to keep Jones out of the game once Chicago stretched their advantage beyond New England's reach. Both during and after the game, New England fans called for Zappe to get a run at the starting job.
But NFL legend Shannon Sharpe believes the Pats head coach has created an unnecessary situation that he must now solve, with the hall-of-famer insisting last year's first-round draft pick Jones is the man for the job.
"He's creating a problem he didn't need," he said on Undisputed. "Now you have a confidence crisis with both quarterbacks. Bailey Zappe did an unbelievable job filling in for Mac Jones when he was injured, I believe Mac Jones probably rushed back because he saw how Bailey Zappe was playing.
"But 'Zappe Hour' didn't last very long. They knew it wasn't going to go very long, and now it's time to return to the starter. I think Mac Jones deserves to be the starter. They are making out was just a bum last year. He took them to 10-7, he took them to the play-offs, he threw 22 touchdowns, he went to the Pro Bowl.
"I believe he is creating a problem, he is creating a beast he didn't need, he doesn't need, so now what do you do? You've got two young quarterbacks, one's in his first year and the other's in his second year, and confidence is one of the most important things a quarterback can have. I didn't agree with this decision and how he's done it."
Jones enjoyed an excellent rookie season, leading the Patriots to the play-offs with a 10-7 record before losing out to the Buffalo Bills. A hallmark of his debut campaign was his efficiency, throwing 22 touchdowns versus 13 interceptions.
But the former Alabama star, 24, has endured a brutal start to this season. He missed two games with a high ankle sprain and in the four games he has featured in, he has tossed just two touchdowns and six picks.
Zappe, meanwhile, has become a fan favourite in Foxborough, gaining a cult following in the stands and on social media. The 23-year-old has five touchdowns and three interceptions to his name, and he had a quarterback rating in excess of 100 in the games against the Green Bay Packers, Detriot and Cleveland before an inconsistent throwing performance against the Bears.
New England built a dynasty on Belichick making a brave decision at the quarterback position, replacing star Drew Bledsoe with now seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, an unheralded sixth-round second-year backup who impressed in the absence of Bledsoe due to injury in 2001.
But Sharpe has urged Belichick to not be too clever this time, telling him Jones is the man for the job.
"The thing with coach Belichick, he had the most important quarterback controversy ever and he was right," Sharpe added. Drew Bledsoe gets hurt, Tom Brady comes in, Drew Bledsoe gets healthy, Tom Brady stays in and we know what happened.
"That's a once in a lifetime. Someone else might create that situation, you're never going to get that again, coach Belichick, so stop trying to recreate the wheel you created, it's not going to happen again."
"I disagree with this decision. I totally disagree with this decision."
Next up for New England is a trip to AFC East rivals the New York Jets, who rose to 5-2 on Sunday by beating the Denver Broncos, and they are riding a four-game winning streak.
