There appears to be a full-blown "quarterback controversy" in New England.
In Monday night's loss to the Bears, the Patriots pulled nominal starter Mac Jones after three underwhelming drives in favor of rookie Bailey Zappe, who had played well in recent weeks while Jones was out due to an ankle injury.
The surprising switch came after notoriously secretive Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was cagey about his plans for the quarterback position leading up to the Week 7 contest at Gillette Stadium.
While Zappe provided an initial spark to the Patriots' flagging offense, leading scoring drives on his first two possessions, the magic seemed to dry up in the second half. New England was shut out in the third and fourth quarters, while Zappe threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
After the game, Belichick claimed Zappe's insertion into the game was planned all along, and that Jones' removal wasn't a benching. While a pregame report by ESPN's Adam Schefter seemed to confirm Belichick's argument, Patriots players themselves appeared to be caught off-guard by the situation.
Belichick also declined to name a starter for the upcoming matchup against the Jets in Week 8.
But, regardless of Belichick's framing of the episode, it certainly appeared Jones had been yanked for his underwhelming performance. His final play of the night was a second-quarter interception, and he finished just 3-of-6 for 13 yards.
Fans and journalists certainly seemed to interpret the switch as Jones being benched. Here's what some of them were saying on social media:
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