Monday’s game for the New England Patriots was a tough one for starting quarterback Mac Jones, who was benched in favor of rookie Bailey Zappe before halftime.
This decision came following a roar of boos from Patriots fans frustrated with his poor play, and not everyone is pleased with how Jones was treated in the game.
Patriots receiver Jakobi Meyers was asked about the Jones situation following the game and he revealed that he felt for Jones and was surprised when he was benched.
“It’s tough as a man to see someone who works so hard to get that kind of treatment,” said Meyers. “But at the end of the day, we all gotta feed our families so gotta go out there and make plays with whoever is throwing it.”
https://twitter.com/IanSteeleABC6/status/1584974526404001794
He clarified those comments with Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald that he was particularly bothered by the Patriots fans who were clearly calling for Jones to be benched.
“Not even the coaches, just everyone,” said Meyers. “The crowd, all of it. It was an ugly situation, in my opinion.”
Jakobi Meyers sounded like he was bothered by Mac getting pulled: “It’s tough to see somebody who works so hard get that kind of treatment.”
I followed up later, he clarified: “Not even the coaches, just everybody. The crowd, all of it. It was an ugly situation, in my opinion.”
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) October 25, 2022
It appears that a number of players in the Patriots’ locker room agree with Meyers’ frustrations about this situation.
Bill Belichick revealed to the media following the game that their plan in this game was to have a “quarterback rotation” involving Jones and Zappe, and some players apparently missed the memo.
“Most of the offensive guys did not understand that this was the plan,” said NFL Network’s Mike Giardi.
A confused locker room and, now, perhaps a confused coaching staff. My report on the #Patriots self-made mess at QB. pic.twitter.com/cYVZ3LWBEc
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) October 25, 2022
It is very clear that this game created far more questions than answers for the Patriots, and Belichick will need to do some huge work to get the locker room on the same page moving forward.
[Andrew Callahan, Mike Giardi]
