NFL Analysts Wonder If Mac Jones Era With Patriots Is Over

The Patriots came into Deutsche Bank Park on Sunday hoping to turn their season around, but instead, New England left with more questions than answers.

Mac Jones’ attempt to adapt to the Frankfurt, Germany timezone didn’t help his on-field play as the third-year quarterback threw an interception, nearly threw two more and stalled out drives against the Colts. Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien admonished Jones on the sideline, and the New England signal-caller was benched in favor of Bailey Zappe on the final drive, which resulted in the second-year QB throwing a laughably bad interception to seal a 10-6 win for Indianapolis.

It was the lowest-scoring NFL International Series game of all time, and the Patriots’ 2-8 record heading into their bye week is tied for the worst in the Bill Belichick era.

Jones offered words of encouragement to the offense when he got benched, but patience continued to wear thin for fans, especially when New England had multiple opportunities to win the game but didn’t because of Jones’ mistakes.

The NFL Network postgame panel could not believe how bad the Patriots played Sunday. And while they agreed Jones deserved to be benched, Steve Mariucci, Gerald McCoy and Michael Irvin struggled to come to a consensus on answers.

“We’re talking about ‘maybe Mac Jones won’t be in New England,’ and if he’s not in New England, good for him,” Irvin said, as seen on the NFL Network broadcast.

The panel noted there were a myriad of problems with New England that included Belichick and O’Brien. But they also pointed out that Jones’ interception that missed a wide-open Mike Gesicki for a touchdown was unacceptable for an NFL quarterback.

New England sits with the third overall pick in the 2024 draft after Sunday’s loss, and questions over whether or not the Patriots will draft a quarterback will continue to come to Belichick’s and Robert Kraft’s direction as they enter the bye week.