In a back-and-forth interaction with reporters Wednesday, New England head coach Bill Belichick utilized his trademark vagueness in discussing the Patriots’ starting quarterback debate, simply answering a series of questions with the same answer: “We’ll see how it goes today.”
Belichick and his staff have a decision to make as to who they’d like to lead the offense going forward, between the incumbent starter Mac Jones and the rookie Bailey Zappe, starting with Sunday’s Week 8 matchup with the New York Jets. And so far, Belichick has kept it hush-hush on the direction the team might be going.
The longtime head coach is known for not revealing key information as long as possible to preserve a competitive advantage and used those same tactics in this situation, giving only vague updates and general answers when asked to provide clarity on the status of the Patriots’ quarterback room. In addition to the above phrase, Belichick also repeated “We’ll get the team ready to play” and “We’ll deal with it” as responses.
Jones had been the presumptive starter in his second season, but missed some time after suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 3. He was replaced in succession by backup QB Brian Hoyer (now on IR with a concussion), and then Zappe, who opened up the possibility that he could usurp Jones thanks to his play over the last few weeks.
Jones got the start Monday night when the Patriots faced the Chicago Bears, but his return from injury was a short affair, as he was pulled from the game after three series in favor of Zappe. Zappe quickly bolstered his case for taking on the starting job, leading two touchdown drives on his first two series. But after that point the offense went quiet, and Zappe was unable to put any more points on the board, leading to a 33-14 upset loss.
After the game, Belichick was asked about his thought process behind playing both quarterbacks and said that the decision had been made and conveyed before the game and that in-game play had nothing to do with the switch. The following day, when asked whether Jones would be the starter if he stayed healthy, Belichick just said, “That’s a hypothetical question. So let’s see where that is and what that is.”
So unfortunately for those who want a speedy answer as to who will be under center to start Sunday’s game or for the rest of the season, Belichick is not likely to provide any insight before absolutely necessary.