Should Grier be next QB up if Mac is benched again? Breer and Perry debate
Should Grier be next QB up if Mac is benched again? Breer and Perry debate originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
With Mac Jones struggling mightily, the New England Patriots need to have a Plan B at the quarterback position.
Jones was benched during the Patriots' 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 and again during last Sunday's 34-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The third-year signal-caller turned the ball over five times between those two games with three of those turnovers resulting in touchdowns for the opposing team.
Bailey Zappe replaced Jones during both blowouts and although he kept from turning the ball over, he didn't do anything special. He completed seven of his 18 passes for 79 yards and no touchdowns.
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Knowing Zappe's limited upside, should the Patriots give third-stringer Will Grier a shot if Jones is benched again? Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer and our Patriots insider Phil Perry shared their thoughts on Thursday's Early Edition.
"As long as it's not for another couple of weeks," Breer said. "If you did have to make a change, I would want to see what I have in Will Grier because I think there's a case to be made that maybe he's the most physically gifted quarterback on the roster.
"I know that sounds crazy because he just got here a couple of weeks ago, but if you look who he was at West Virginia, if you look at where he was drafted, he actually might be the guy who you could say, OK, if there's something here, maybe we wanna keep him around as a long-term backup. So I'd see wanting to see what I have in Will Grier as a logical idea over just spinning your wheels with Bailey Zappe."
Grier was originally selected by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The former Florida and West Virginia star appeared in two games as a rookie, completing 28 of his 52 passes for 228 yards, no TDs, and four interceptions.
The Dallas Cowboys claimed Grier off waivers before the 2021 season, though he never played a regular-season game for them. He joined the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad in August and signed to the Patriots' active roster on Sept. 21.
Perry doesn't see Grier starting under center for New England any time soon, but he agrees with Breer that giving him a chance makes more sense than sticking with Zappe in the backup role.
"I don't believe that this is in the offing anytime soon necessarily, based on the conversations that I've had. He's just getting so limited numbers of reps in practice. There's just not all that much available to him, so it's hard for him to really show what he can do," Perry said. "But at least with Will Grier there is the unknown, which is a positive in this scenario. You understand what you have in Bailey Zappe, you understand why you released him about a month ago. If you're Bill Belichick and the rest of this offensive staff, more upside in my opinion with Will Grier than with Zappe.
"So as soon as he's ready to go, as soon as he can grasp this playbook to the point that you could actually put him on the field and feel relatively comfortable with it, he should be the No. 2. And maybe that will happen sooner than we think. I think there's a simplification of this offense that is coming, and if that happens, maybe it makes it easier for Grier to pick things up in this relatively new offense for him. So, maybe he can win that No. 2 job sooner rather than later."
For now, it looks like Jones will remain the starting quarterback until he gives Belichick and Co. no other choice but to go in a different direction. It's a pivotal year for Jones and the Patriots as the organization will need to make a decision on the Alabama product's fifth-year option by May 2024.
Jones will look to turn his season around this Sunday when the Patriots visit Josh McDaniels and the Las Vegas Raiders. Kickoff is set for 4:05 p.m. ET.
