Bill Belichick benches Mac Jones again after disastrous 2-INT first half for Patriots

For the fourth time this season, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has benched quarterback Mac Jones. Backup Bailey Zappe entered the game at quarterback at the start of the third quarter on Sunday against the New York Giants.

Against the 3-8 Giants, Jones was awful. In the first two quarters he went 12-for-21 with 89 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

On paper, that line is terrible. Watching it live was worse. The second interception was really bad:

The first one wasn't much better, coming in the final seconds of the first quarter after overthrowing a long ball downfield.

There were moments when even simple passes seemed beyond him.

And then there was this fumble late in the second quarter.

While this is the fourth time this season Jones has been benched, it's the first time he has been pulled this early in a (relatively) close game. Belichick has twice benched Jones during blowouts, and in Week 10 benched him in the fourth quarter after throwing an interception against the Indianapolis Colts.

So Jones is definitely getting benched for his performance this time, though who knows what it means for his future. Many NFL fans (and not just Patriots fans) are ready to never see him grace a football field ever again. But Belichick is the king of equivocation and doesn't like to close windows. Will Sunday's game be enough to fully dislodge Jones as the full-time starter?

Given how Zappe performed in the second half, who knows. He went 9-for-14 with 54 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. The Patriots lost 10-7.