The Patriots lost 10-7 to the Giants on Sunday, so there was no bye week magic done by head coach Bill Belichick to get his team on track after a 2-8 start to the season.
Belichick did make a in-game change at quarterback when he pulled Mac Jones in favor of Bailey Zappe after Jones threw two interceptions during the first half. Zappe threw another and Belichick lamented the team’s poor ball security many times during his postgame press conference.
The team had not said who would start at quarterback in the days leading up to the game and Zappe said last Friday that no one had told the players the choice either. Tight end Hunter Henry told reporters after the game that they found out Jones would be starting on Sunday, but Belichick said during his press conference that he let the quarterbacks know before they traveled to New Jersey.
“I can’t remember. Sometime during the week,” Belichick said.
Jones and Zappe split reps with the first team at practice this week and Belichick said he thought both players “deserve to play” when discussing his approach to this week. He declined to say anything about who will start against the Chargers in Week 13, but it doesn’t feel like either choice will make much of a difference in a lost season for New England.