New England Patriots

Did Bill Belichick ruin Mac Jones' confidence in Patriots' loss?

Updated Oct. 25, 2022 6:32 p.m. ET

Bill Belichick created more questions than answers in the New England Patriots' 33-14 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

The Patriots coach started Mac Jones in his first game back after missing three weeks due to a high ankle sprain, but quickly pulled him after he threw an interception on his third drive of the game. Bailey Zappe came in and led the Patriots to two quick touchdown drives but struggled for the rest of the game, throwing two interceptions in the second half and losing a fumble before halftime.

While Jones' benching appeared to be performance-based, Belichick said it wasn't. In fact, he told ESPN before the game that he planned to play both quarterbacks on Monday night and reiterated that he was going to play both in the second half.

Skip Bayless isn't buying that was Belichick's plan, though, saying, "Anybody who knows anything about [football] would disagree with this decision."

"You cannot tell me that if Mac Jones had taken the ball the first two times he had it and gone and scored touchdowns, and it was 14-0, he's not going to go to Bailey ‘[Tom] Brady’ Zappe, right? He's not going to do it," Bayless said on Tuesday's ‘Undisputed.’ "He would look like an even bigger fool than he did [Monday] night. The point is, he saw the opening because he went three-and-out, three-and-out and interception, and he said, ‘I’m going to the kid because the kid's got some magic about him. It's going to be Zappe hour, and I'm going to get them all excited.'"

Bayless believes that Belichick's decision on Monday night was him trying to recapture the glory he found when he stuck with Tom Brady over Drew Bledsoe in 2001, and it came back to bite him.

"The bottom line of [Monday] night was this was a classic case of Bill Belichick on the ‘Monday Night Football’ stage saying, ‘Let me re-polish my genius. Let me reprove it. Let me not just show you I’m the smartest man in my room,'" Bayless added.

Following Zappe's poor performance in the second half, Shannon Sharpe believes that Belichick's decision created "a problem he didn't need."

Patriots yank Mac Jones for Bailey Zappe; lose to Bears 33-14 on MNF

Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless questioned Bill Belichick's decision to replace Mac Jones so soon in the Patriots' loss to the Bears.

"Now I believe you have a crisis with confidence for both quarterbacks," Sharpe said. "Bailey Zappe did an unbelievable job replacing Mac Jones when he was injured with a high ankle sprain. I believe Mac Jones probably rushed back because he saw the way Bailey Zappe was playing. But Zappe hour didn't last very long. As a matter of fact, they didn't charge cover because they knew it wasn't going to go very long.

"Now, it's time to return to the Mac. I think Mac Jones deserves to be the starter. They made it seem like Mac Jones was a bum last year. He did go 10-7. He did take them to the playoffs. He threw 22 touchdowns. He did go to the Pro Bowl. Does that not matter Coach Belichick?"