Mac Jones is the Patriots' starting quarterback for now, but he might not have a stranglehold on that role for the duration of the season.
New England knows it has a serviceable signal-caller option waiting in the wings. Bailey Zappe performed very well in the first two starts of his young NFL career, so much so that a quarterback controversy was created in Foxboro. Jones also was pulled in favor of Zappe in Week 7, although that might have been a move to protect the 2021 first-rounder.
Nonetheless, there still might be an open Patriots quarterback competition even though we're at the rough halfway point of the regular season. New England legend Ty Law, for one, believes head coach Bill Belichick has made it clear to Jones and Zappe that the starting gig is not set in stone.
"At the end of the day, Coach Belichick is about winning, and who's going to give him the best chance to win is whoever is playing better," Law said Tuesday on "The Greg Hill Show," as transcribed by WEEI. "If Mac Jones doesn't step up, he knows Bailey Zappe is looking right over his shoulder. Bill Belichick has already established, 'I will take you out if you don't play better.' So that is the extra pressure on him as well. How is he going to respond? But absolutely (Zappe) is waiting in the wings, waiting for you to mess up. I know that's what I was thinking when I was a backup: waiting for that opportunity."
Jones, who was taken off the Patriots' injury report heading into Week 8, quarterbacked New England to a much-needed win over the New York Jets. However, the sophomore's play in the Meadowlands seemingly didn't help strengthen his job security. Yes, Jones was going up against one of the NFL's better defenses and was playing behind a hobbled offensive line, but it was still very, very far from a statement game for the Alabama product.
It's probably more likely than not that Jones is behind center for the Patriots the rest of the way, barring another injury. But no one is more calculated than Belichick, so there has to be a reason why he hasn't vocalized commitment to the second-year QB.
