Is Mac Jones playing tonight vs the New York Jets in Week 8?

Mac Jones was benched by the New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during last week's loss against the Chicago Bears. Jones was playing his first game since recovering from an ankle injury, and he looked quite bad against the Bears.

As a result, Belichick inserted backup quarterback Bailey Zappe into the game, who made some good plays initially, but in the second half, he also regressed. Due to this, there was a quarterback controversy in New England coming into Week 8's game against the New York Jets.

Both Bailey Zappe and Mac Jones were in contention to start this Sunday against the Jets, but coach Belichick has opted to start Jones instead of Zappe, at least for this game. It is unclear whether the former Alabama quarterback will continue to start going ahead, but he got the nod this week.

The Patriots are currently 3-4 and the game against the Jets is a crucial one for them, for their playoff aspirations. The Jets are 5-2, and have looked like a pretty good team this year. They are more than capable of causing problems for the Patriots on Sunday.

Mac Jones hasn't played well this season, and so far has a passer rating of 70.8 with 799 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions in four games this season. He needs to improve on these numbers, and he also knows it.

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Mac Jones' job is on the line on Sunday against the Jets

Mac Jones is under pressure

Mac Jones' starting quarterback position is on the line in Sunday's game against the New York Jets. If he continues to play poorly, he will be benched for Bailey Zappe, and the latter has already won two games with this team.

If Jones doesn't lead the Patriots to a win over the Jets, then we can expect Zappe to have a run of games until he plays extremely poorly. Having two quarterbacks contending for the starting position is a good problem to have, but Bill Belichick would prefer to see Jones play like he did last season.

Belichick has often caused young quarterbacks problems, but Justin Fields was able to completely run through the Patriots defense and win the game. However, that doesn't mean Zach Wilson will be up for an easy night on Sunday. Coach Belichick will be out for redemption, and the Jets need to be at their best as well.

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