Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Patriots Quarterback Situation Resembles A Soap Opera: Bama in the NFL Week 8
The one thing we had hoped to not be writing about this week was Mac Jones and his status as the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots.
And then the Patriots played a disastrous game Monday night against the Chicago Bears and got thumped 33-14.
In case you missed it (and unless you're a Bears fan we hope that you did), Jones started his first game coming off a high-ankle sprain suffered a month ago. He didn't look his best.
After being intercepted by Jaquan Brisker early in the second quarter, Jones was replaced by Bailey Zappe.
The rookie looked good at first, but then also struggled. He finished 14-for-22, but for just 185 yards, with one touchdown and a pair of interceptions.
Jones was 3-for-6 for 13 yards and had the one interception.
However, this is where things take a few turns toward the weird.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said after the game that the plan was for both quarterbacks to get game time against the Bears and that they had been informed of the situation ahead of time.
Yet, some of the Patriots, including receiver Jakobi Meyers, expressed confusion about the decision to pull Jones.
Additionally, there’s been widespread speculation that the pass that was picked off came in contact with the SkyCam’s wire, changing its trajectory. If so, per NFL rules it should have been a dead ball with the down replayed, but no one caught it time.
(ESPN says no, it didn’t)
Of course, all this has led to non-stop questions in New England about who should be the starting quarterback, but Belichick came back on Tuesday and reiterated that was no lack of communication regarding the move.
“I talked to the quarterbacks,” he said on WEEI Tuesday morning. “I talked to the leaders of the team… There was no lack of communication.”
Belichick also insisted that Jones would have re-entered the game in the second half had the score been closer.
"I think Coach Belichick had a really good plan for us. I understood the plan and what was going to happen ... and the timing is the timing. We were on the same page, and there's no hard feelings or anything," Jones said Monday.
“I wish I played better when I was in there… We definitely want to play better as a team and we’re gonna go that. We’re all gonna work together and put our best foot forward.”
With the Patriots (3-4) at the Jets (5-2) in a crucial AFC East matchup, Belichick probably isn't going to say much the rest of the week. Oddsmakers think it'll be Jones, and consider what ESPN commentator Troy Aikman appeared on “Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt” after the game Monday night.
“Because of the way it went, there’s no question that Mac Jones is their quarterback and he’ll be starting next week, in a very tough game against the New York Jets would be my guess,” Aikman said. “And it was a tough outing for him. It was a tough outing ultimately for [Bailey] Zappe. But [Mac] Jones is their guy.”
Nevertheless, between the three former Crimson Tide players in the NFL, none of them have had a situation that could be called normal with their respective teams.
UPDATE: Jones reportedly took 90 percent of the first-team snaps during Wedneday's practice.
Rising Raiders?
The best story among former Crimson Tide players this week has to be Josh Jacobs, who seems to be trying to single-handedly carry the Raiders back into playoff contention.
He had 143 rushing yards and tied his career high with three touchdowns last week. Over the last thee games he's been averaging 147 yards.
Jacobs is just the fifth player since 2000 with 140-plus rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in three straight games. This week against the Saints he could become just the fifth player ever with 150-plus scrimmage yards and a rushing touchdown in four straight games.
New Orleans is near the bottom of the league in rushing defense, having yielded 862 yards on 188 carries.
"It's a blessing to be in this position," Jacobs said after Sunday's win over the Texans. "I think it's more of a credit to the offensive line. I come back to them all the time. I feel like it's the first time in a long time where I've had four to five yards without being touched by anybody. They're making it pretty easy on me and I'm going to make sure I take care of them."
Game of the Week
Strange but true, there's just one game this week between teams with winning records, and no one would have guessed it at the beginning of the season: Giants (6-1) at Seahawks (4-3). Not only does Brian Daboll's team have to travel from coast-to-coast, but the game will be played in one of the league's toughest venues. The Giants are just the third team ever, joining the 2000 Vikings and 1998 Saints, to have six wins in the first seven games, and each had a final score margin of eight-or-fewer points.
Matchup of the Week
There are only five running backs with 500-plus rushing yards this season, but two of them face each other on Sunday when the Titans visit the Texans. Derrick Henry, who tops the NFL in rushing yards (6,843 yards) since 2017, is fourth with 536 rushing yards. Houston running back Dameon Pierce leads all rookies and ranks fifth with 504 rushing yards. Henry is nearly 100 rushing yards behind Jacobs (633), but in 35 career games, he's averaged 99 rushing yards per game against the AFC South. Since 1970, only Barry Sanders (104.7) and Eric Dickerson (102.1) have had a higher average against a division.
How to Watch NFL Week 8
Thursday's Game
Baltimore at Tampa Bay, Prime Video, 7:15 p.m.
Sunday's Games
Denver vs. Jacksonville (London), ESPN+, 8:30 a.m.
Carolina at Atlanta, Fox, noon
Chicago at Dallas, Fox, noon
Miami at Detroit, CBS, noon
Arizona at Minnesota, FOX, noon
Las Vegas at New Orleans, CBS, noon
New England at New York Jets, CBS, noon
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, CBS, noon
Tennessee at Houston, CBS, 3:05 p.m.
Washington at Indianapolis, Fox, 3:25 p.m.
San Francisco at Los Angeles Rams, Fox, 3:25 p.m.
New York Giants at Seattle, Fox, 3:25 p.m.
Green Bay at Buffalo, NBC, 7:20 p.m.
Monday's Game
Cincinnati at Cleveland, ESPN, 7:15 p.m.
Tide-bits
• Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on Jalen Hurts: "I got so much respect for him and the way he plays the position, his intangible quality, his leadership skills."
• In case you missed it, Giants tackle Evan Neal was carted to the locker room after he got rolled from behind against the Jaguars last week. He reportedly only suffered an MCL sprain and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
• The Lions are still hoping to see first-round draft pick Jameson Williams play this season. “We really felt like he’s really turned the corner over the last month,” head coach Dan Campbell said. “We feel like he’s really coming on, so I would say we’re pretty optimistic that he’s gonna play this year. Now, with that being said, the [Lions' numerous other] injuries are not gonna have any bearing on when he plays. We’re not gonna let that affect us. When he’s ready, we’ll get him up and ready to go, but we don’t want to press that just because we have a number of injuries in the receiver room.” Williams remains on the reserve/non-football injury list for a torn left ACL.
• Rashaan Evans led the Falcons with 13 tackles last week. He's one of three NFC linebackers (Jordyn Brooks and Roquan Smith the others) with four-plus games with 10-plus tackles this season.
• Giants safety Xavier McKinney had his first career fumble recovery last week.
Did You Notice?
• The Tennessee Titans released a video highlighting the renderings of the team’s proposed new stadium in Nashville on Tuesday.
• The average final score margin of 9.33 points this season is the lowest average final score margin through Week 7 since 1970. Only three other seasons since the merger (1982, 1983 and 2016) have had an average score margin of fewer than 10 points through the first seven weeks.
• Led by the Eagles and Giants, the combined winning percentage by NFC East teams this season is .741 (20-7), the highest winning percentage by a single division through the first seven weeks of a season since 2002
• Monday's matchup between the Browns and Bengals will mark the eighth time since 1970 that the NFL has played a Monday night game on Halloween.
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