by: garpu.ukPosted on:

Report: Patriots offensive players ‘knew the whole time’ that Mac Jones would start against Giants

Patriots

“Yeah, we basically knew Mac was the starter all week in practice.”

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

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Bill Belichick didn’t publicly name a starter at the quarterback position last week.

Multiple players, including Hunter Henry, said that they hadn’t heard who the starter would be until Sunday.

Multiple reports stated that the Patriots’ quarterback reps were split about 50-50 between Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, with Jones having the edge.

On Monday, MassLive’s Mark Daniels reported that a pair of Patriots players said they knew Jones would be the starter throughout the week.

“Yeah, we basically knew Mac was the starter all week in practice,” running back Rhamondre Stevenson said. “It was kind of the same thing.”

“We knew the whole time,” running back Ezekiel Elliott added.

Belichick said during the week that he wasn’t going to name a starter. Jones said he hoped he would be the starter, and that he thought that was what the plan was. Zappe said he wasn’t aware of who would be starting at the time.

“It was more split in reps, but Mac was out there leading the charge,” Stevenson said.

Belichick spoke about the reps during an appearance on WEEI’s Greg Hill Show Monday morning.

“Mac got the majority of the reps,” Belichick said. “But Zappe got plenty of reps this week.”

Belichick said at a press conference later Monday morning that he doesn’t announce starters at any position, though there are examples of him doing it in the past, such as when he said “Cam [Newton] is our quarterback” in 2021.

“In the end, it feels like players were told to not talk about their quarterback situation leading up to Sunday’s matchup,” Daniels wrote.

Jones started the game, but was pulled at halftime after throwing a pair of interceptions and failing to lead any scoring drives. He finished 12-for-21 with 89 yards.

Zappe, who finished the game in place of Jones, went 9-for-14 for 54 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception.