Back to Mac? Ex Patriots Star Bold Prediction of New England's Quarterback Decision

Former New England Patriots safety Jason McCourty says Mac Jones' time as the starting quarterback is likely over.

The New England Patriots have entered the Bye week with more questions than answers. Is this it for coach Bill Belichick? If not now, how much worse does it have to get before a change is made? Who's the starting quarterback? Is this the quarterback's fault? 

"I don't know" feels like the answer to all of those, especially the last two questions about the quarterback. The Patriots are 2-8, and after last Sunday's 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany, it feels like the Mac Jones era is coming to an end in Foxboro.

The former first-round pick was benched for the third time this season ... pulled from the game before his team's final possession in a still-winnable game.

And while that sudden, shocking change at quarterback from Jones to Bailey Zappe didn't work, retired Patriots safety and NBC Sports analyst Jason McCourty thinks the switch was a sign of things to come.

"I don't see how you (go back to Mac)," McCourty said on the Patriots Talk Podcast. "I'm watching that game, and we're in the commercial break, I'm talking to our producer, and I'm like, 'Bailey Zappe is warming up. We gotta show that, he's warming up!' As bad as that interception was, when you bench a guy like that in a game that, for all intents and purposes -- I was with [Robert] Kraft the day before, and he really wanted to win that game in Germany.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick (left), quarterback Bailey Zappe (middle), and Mac Jones (right) / Clutchpoints

"He said this has been a decade of trying to get a game in Germany for the New England Patriots. ... And in the biggest moment, you take Mac Jones out and he's just sitting there on the bench and he goes up to Bailey Zappe right before and says, 'Go win this thing.' I don't see how you keep going back and forth after last year."

It has been a quick change in fortunes for Jones after showing promise in the season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and weeks later in the upset win over the Buffalo Bills. His 272-yard passing performance with a game-winning drive to defeat the Bills was arguably the best day of his NFL career. 

Mac or Zappe? Belichick Reveals Patriots QB Update

But those days feel like ancient past, as many of the issues that plagued Jones before transpired versus the Colts such as his final throw - a horribly underthrown interception near Indy's goal-line.

Can the Pats go back to Mac?

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