Team news: New England Patriots

It’s time to turn to Bailey Zappe. Full stop. Give him every starter rep in practice. Build a simple offense around what he can do.

It probably won’t win a lot of games. The body of evidence we have suggests Zappe won’t be a successful NFL quarterback. But you can’t keep turning to Mac Jones. He’s broken.

Related players: Will Grier, Malik Cunningham

This is just one opinion and has nothing to do with the Patriots ultimate decision heading into Week 13. But it makes some sense. The story said with Jones on the field, it feels like the entire team is just waiting for him to make a crippling mistake. The story added the team seems to have no interest in Cunningham playing quarterback (considering the coaches have kept him from his natural WR position as much as possible). The team doesn't seem likely to turn to a QB that's still on the waiver wire, so the Pats appear ready to close out the season with one or more of the four options on their roster.

Bill Belichick not budging when asked about his starting QB, repeating what he said earlier in the week: Told everybody to be ready to go.

Related Players: Mac Jones, Bailey Zapper, Malik Cunningham

One of the least compelling quarterback controversies in recent memory, not of these QB options make sense in your fantasy lineup.

Mac Jones was asked if he’s starting: “Hope so. That’s the plan, I think.”

Related Players: Bailey Zappe, Malik Cunningham

You can feel the confidence exude out of the Patriots QB. No matter who gets the start, leave them on the waiver wire.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will be making the call on the team’s starting quarterback for this week’s game against the Giants and he wasn’t in a sharing mood when it came to his thoughts on the matter on Tuesday.

“I’ve told all the players the same thing: Be ready to go. Hopefully they will be,” Belichick said.

Related players: Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, Will Grier, Malik Cunningham

As the story said, Jones has started every game this year, but he was pulled in favor of Zappe for the final drive of the team’s Week 10 loss to the Colts. Grier is also on the 53-man roster and Cunningham is on the practice squad, but Belichick didn’t bite when asked at his press conference if he’s made a decision about who will be under center on Sunday. From a fantasy standpoint, this isn't a decision that should impact most leagues outside of the very deepest.

The Patriots will come off their bye this week to take on the Giants on the road. At this point, there’s not much clarity as to who will be the starting quarterback.

Related players: Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, Will Grier

We may have to wait another day or two to find out who will get the start, but despite a matchup against the Giants, the starter will likely not be a great fantasy option anyway.

Question: Is Mac Jones still the team’s No. 1 quarterback?

Bill Belichick: “We have a lot of things to work on this week as a team. We’ll work through those. That is what we are going to do this week.”

Related players: Will Grier, Bailey Zappe

At this point, it's anyone's guess what the Patriots do at QB heading into Week 11. Jones was 15-for-20 for 170 yards but did throw another interception. Strangely, the team went to Zappe on their final drive needing a touchdown to win. Zappe eventually threw an interception to end the game. If Jones doesn't start, it could be Zappe or maybe Grier - or maybe Malik Cunningham makes a return. Those in deep two-QB or superflex leagues should pay attention to this situation this week.

Jalen Reagor, rookie Demario Douglas and JuJu Smith-Schuster are now the top three on the depth chart, with 2022 second-round pick Tyquan Thornton (a healthy scratch Sunday) and 2023 sixth-rounder Kayshon Boutte (inactive since the season opener) next in line.

The 5-8, 192-pound Douglas is a quick slot receiver whose playing time has spiked the past two weeks (78 of 113 snaps).

It's not a great WR group, but, as they say, someone needs to catch the ball. The story said Reagor has drawn some praise, but we've all been down that road before. If he's on your wire, Douglas could be someone to stash away at this point, especially with his increased playing time recently. The story went on to say Douglas is often sent in motion before the snap, making him a threat as a runner with the possibility of taking a handoff, and has been targeted 13 times the past two weeks.

Follow-up tests Monday revealed that New England Patriots leading receiver Kendrick Bourne tore his right ACL, according to a source.

Related players: DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte

The injury ends Bourne's seventh season in the NFL, which was on pace to be his best, as he faces a recovery that a source estimates in the six- to eight-month range. Bourne was injured on the first play of the fourth quarter Sunday. It's a big hit to the Pats offense as Bourne had a TD in each of the last two games and before that had a line of 10-89-0 in Week 6.

The #Patriots waived QB/WR Malik Cunningham.

Related players: Mac Jones, Will Grier, Bailey Zappe

It's a bit of a shocker as Cunningham was recently the team's QB2 and seemingly a step away from starting with Jones struggling. Jones is coming off a good game against Buffalo and now Zappe or Grier look to be back in line as the backup to Jones.

As the Patriots try to avoid falling to 1-6 on Sunday against the Bills, Mac Jones will once again be the starting quarterback.

Via Dakota Randall of NESN.com, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien told reporters on Tuesday that Jones will retain his job.

“Yes,” O’Brien said in response to the question of whether Jones will continue to start.

Related players: Malik Cunningham, Bailey Zappe, Will Grier

The story went to say O’Brien said Cunningham’s role will be determined on a “week to week” basis. Cunningham has leapfrogged Zappe, who served as the emergency quarterback on Sunday. Cunningham played on just six snaps last week.