Jakobi Meyers speaks up on surprise Mac Jones benching – “You hate to see one of your brothers treated like that”
During the New England Patriots bout with the Chicago Bears on Monday night, Mac Jones made his return from injury. It was ultimately a short-lived return as he was benched in the second quarter following an interception in Bears territory.
Bailey Zappe returned to the role he had assumed while Jones was hurt and immediately led two touchdown drives. Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers was the recipient of the lone touchdown pass thrown by Zappe, but he was surprised that it wasn't Jones on the field.
The entire offense was a bit surprised by the change, but none more so than Meyers, who said this, according to NFL.com:
"I would say it's a shock, but we don't really have time to focus on it too much. The bullets are already flying by the time we realized it. You have to go out there and keep making plays."
Prior to the change, fans in the crowd chanted for Zappe after Jones' interception, which made Meyers feel bad for him:
"You hate to see one of your brothers treated like that. You want to see him do well. You want to see everybody do well, including Zappe, but as far as getting caught up in it, you really don't have time to really focus on the decisions being made."
The Patriots offense scored two touchdowns after the change at quarterback, but that spark fizzled out. In the end, they were roundly defeated by a score of 33-14.
Will Mac Jones return to the lineup as a starter?
Even though the Patriots were defeated with ease, the quarterback change may be the only reason they were not shut out. Before that, Zappe had helped the Patriots go 2-1 in their starter's absence. The change is understandable, but it's hard to imagine a former first-round draft pick being benched like this.
In the post-match conference, Bill Belichick said he was planning on using both quarterbacks anyway:
"I told the quarterbacks that we were going to play both of them, and that's what we did. That's not what it was, but you can write whatever you want to write. That's not what it was."
He also did not name a starter going into Week 8, so the quarterback position is potentially in flux.
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