Legendary QB Was ‘Dumbfounded’ By Costly Mac Jones Mistake

Mac Jones' final pass last weekend, which might prove to be his final attempt with the Patriots, put a legendary quarterback's brain in a pretzel.

A promising late-game New England drive came to a screeching halt in Germany where Jones uncorked one of the worst passes in the NFL. The third-year signal-caller significantly underthrew a wide-open Mike Gesicki in the end zone and floated the football to Indianapolis Colts safety Julian Blackmon. The costly pick led to Bill Belichick benching Jones, who might lose his job to Bailey Zappe.

Glaring mistakes are easy for fans to pick apart, but experienced players often can piece together the thought process. That wasn't the case for Jones' lowlight in Frankfurt, though.

"It's hard to even make sense of that throw," Kurt Warner told MassLive. "He made the right read, and obviously, the throw has to go up and over, but that throw was so drastically short that you're dumbfounded by what happened there. It's hard to miss that bad. So not only is he missing, but he's missing drastically on plays."

Belichick did not commit to Jones as the starter after the Patriots dropped to 2-8, and at this point, it might be in the best interest of all parties involved for the 2021 first-rounder to ride the pine for the rest of the season. New England definitely should take that route if a report about Jones losing the locker room is true.

But even if Jones still has the support of his teammates, it's probably time to give someone else a shot behind center. The Alabama product likely will only lower his stock if he keeps playing and the Patriots surely don't have anything left to see from Jones.