The New England Patriots benched starting quarterback Mac Jones in the midst of a brutal performance as the Patriots were blown out at AT&T Stadium in Dallas by the Cowboys 38-3 on Sunday to drop them to 1-3 on the season.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who endured the worst loss of his head coaching career, benched Jones with 3:41 remaining in the third quarter, saying it wasn’t a benching and that Jones remains the team’s starter moving forward. The Patriots have scored 55 points this season, their fewest through four games since the 2000 season which was Belichick’s first as the head coach of New England.
Jones finished 12-of-21 for 150 yards, with the three turnovers during the brutal loss to Dallas.
“I didn’t think there was any point of leaving him in the game,” Belichick said, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
The Patriots (1-3) host the New Orleans Saints (2-2) on Sunday and Belichick said the plan is for Jones to start.
“Definitely disappointed in myself. I feel like I can play a lot better,” Jones said. “I put a lot into it and I feel really bad. I let my team down, let the coaches down, the whole organization, everybody — the fans. I have to put a better product out there to beat good teams.”
“I feel like I made progress this year so far. Just not today. Definitely took a bunch of steps back,” Jones said.
“For me, just not good enough. It wasn’t my day. You can’t turn the ball over like that and beat good teams,” Jones said. “I think it will be a good test for me to try to stay focused on what I can control, and that’s playing better. Hopefully there’s better days ahead. Just bury it, try to learn from it, and move on — don’t make it turn into another loss.”
Jones has the support of many of his teammates.
