True to form, Bill Belichick wasn't interested in giving any extra details on the Patriots' mangled quarterback room during his Monday press availability.
Some variation of "We'll see how it goes today" or "We're getting ready for the Jets" was used about as often as "day by day" was a few weeks ago to shut down inquiries about whether Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe would start for New England against New York on Sunday before they started.
No one expected much else, even though Belichick brought this particular quandary on himself.
That reality, though, made one "nothing-burger" answer to a question about Jones all the more interesting.
Asked by NBC Sports Boston's Tom Curran about what he'd say about Jones' established level of play thus far in 2022, Belichick declined to give a "midseason review" of the second-year quarterback's play.
Additionally, he cited Jones' injury as a reason such an evaluation is difficult: "You're talking about a player who really didn't for play for three weeks."
Let's talk about that.
The point itself is valid. Jones has only played in four of the team's seven games this season. His grade on the season is even more incomplete than everyone else's at this point, even while acknowledging his clear struggles with turnovers when he's played.
But that makes Belichick's benching of Jones even stranger. (Why should anyone take Bill Belichick's word for it that Jones coming out of the game was according to a "plan"?)
If Jones, his starting quarterback, needed time to re-establish a baseline level of play and shake off rust in his return to action, why pull him after three offensive series even after his bad interception? Why couldn't he have eventually mustered the 14 points Zappe did or better over the course of a game with some adjustments?
And if Belichick and the coaching staff weren't prepared to give Jones the time to work through the struggles or were concerned before the game about his ability to do so, why not just play Zappe and give Jones another week to get closer to full health?
It’s understandable to ask people not to rush to judgment about Jones' play until he's had more time to get his legs under him.
That's all the more reason the Patriots shouldn't have done exactly that against the Bears.
