Mac Jones Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Patriots QB Bailey Zappe completed just four of nine passes for 57 yards after taking over for Mac Jones in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to the Cowboys. Zappe took a sack and didn't pilot any scoring drives. But he at least avoided turnovers. We're guessing New England will go back to Jones for Week 5, but we'll watch for confirmation.

QB Mac Jones was benched in the third quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Cowboys, with the Patriots down 31-3. Jones completed 12 of 21 passes for 150 yards, 0 TDs, and two INTs, one of which went for a pick-6. Jones also lost a fumble that was returned for a Dallas TD. He's been replaced by QB Bailey Zappe. We'll see about New England's plan at QB going forward.

Patriots QB Mac Jones completed 15 of 29 passes for 201 yards with 1 TD and no INTs in Week 3’s win vs. the Jets. He also added 13 rushing yards on 4 carries in the contest. Between the bad weather and the Jets’ offense playing poorly, Jones didn’t have to accomplish much to help secure the W. Next week, he’ll have a tough matchup against the Cowboys.

Patriots QB Mac Jones completed 31 of 42 passes for 231 yards with 1 TD and INT apiece in Sunday night’s divisional loss vs. the Dolphins. He also added 25 rushing yards on 3 carries in Week 2. Though this performance didn’t do much for fantasy managers, it’s been a revelation to see how much New England is throwing the ball through two weeks of the OC Bill O’Brien era. It’s wise to keep expectations low for Jones looking forward to the Patriots’ next couple of games (Week 3 @ Jets, Week 4 @ Cowboys).

Patriots QB Mac Jones threw for 316 yards and 3 TDs on 35-of-54 passing. He hit WR Kendrick Bourne for a pair of scores and TE Hunter Henry for the other. Jones also took just 2 sacks against a Philly D that racked up 70 last season. Overall, it was an impressive outing for a pass offense that stunk in 2022. Jones looks like at least a solid superflex play for a Week 2 home date with the Dolphins. Weeks 3 and 4 look tougher on the road against the Jets and Cowboys.

The Athletic’s Chad Graff believes New England’s WRs corps “seems only marginally better than last year’s.” Graff calls DeVante Parker an “x-factor” but admits he’s “not sold yet” on Tyquan Thornton. He also questions the contract given to JuJu Smith-Schuster because of his injury history. Kendrick Bourne, meanwhile, isn’t considered a roster lock. (Yeah, it’s pretty clear why the Pats pursued DeAndre Hopkins.) We’ll monitor this unit come training camp. The chemistry between JuJu and Mac Jones is something to really focus on, as the 26-year-old missed most of the spring with a knee issue.

Chad Graff of The Athletic writes that it was a “rough spring” for the Patriots’ O-line. Graff points out struggles at OT while noting that key RG Mike Onwenu missed spring practices (ankle surgery). We're not altering projections for Mac Jones or Rhamondre Stevenson. But we’ll keep a close eye on this unit as the pads come on at training camp.

There's no QB competition in New England, according to Evan Lazar of the team's official website. "Mac Jones works hard, he's bought in, and his confidence is returning," Lazar writes. "Jones' command as a field general at the line of scrimmage is lightyears ahead of where things were last year. ... Jones is also throwing with his vintage touch and accuracy on crossers and fades (outside/slot) to generate big plays." Jones still isn't an exciting fantasy pick. He doesn't offer rushing upside, and New England's pass-catching corps is underwhelming. But being locked in as the starter at least makes Jones a fine QB3 target in superflex and best-ball drafts.

Patriots HC Bill Belichick refused to commit to QB Mac Jones as his 2023 starter when asked at the league meetings this week. “Everybody will get a chance to play," Belichick said. "Everybody that’s on our roster, if they earn the opportunity to play, then based on what they do in practice and all that, then they’ll get an opportunity to play.” It's a classic Belichickian response that we're not reading much into. QB Bailey Zappe was better than expected when pressed into duty last season. But Jones is the guy New England spent a 1st-round pick on just two years ago. He'll have a much better chance this season now that the Patriots have an actual OC in Bill O'Brien running the offense. That said, Jones is an unexciting QB2 option in early best-ball drafts.

The Patriots are signing TE Mike Gesicki to a one-year deal worth "up to" $9 million, according to multiple reports. Gesicki was a forgotten man in HC Mike McDaniels' Dolphins offense last year, mustering just 32 catches for 362 yards and 5 TDs on a 45% snap rate. He's still just 27, though, and topped 700 receiving yards in both 2020 and 2021. He finished both of those seasons as a top-9 TE in PPR points, while ranking 6th and then 13th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade. Gesicki joins Hunter Henry in New England's TE room, but the two have played different roles to date. Henry played a career-low 26.5% of his pass snaps inline (according to Pro Football Focus) and a career-high 61.6% in the slot in 2021, his first year with the Patriots. Last season, though, he spent exactly the same amount of time (43.3% of pass snaps) in each role -- with a career-low 10.3% out wide. Gesicki has spent just 19.5% of his career snaps inline -- the traditional TE spot -- 58.9% in the slot and 21.1% out wide. Considering the current state of the New England WR corps (JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne), there's room for both TEs to be relevant. We'll look for clues on how the targets will be divvied. For now, don't consider Gesicki more than a low-TE2 in fantasy football drafts. And there's no reason to downgrade Henry's fantasy outlook. He has already been going in mid-TE3 range of best ball drafts. His career-long penchant for end-zone targets makes him well worth mixing in at that level.

Patriots insider Mark Daniels hears that QB Mac Jones is "very excited" about the hiring of new OC Bill O'Brien. Jones seemed uncomfortable in and frustrated by New England's offense this past season. He and O'Brien briefly overlapped back in 2021, when O'Brien was hired by Alabama and Jones was in the pre-draft process. It’ll be “nice to start a new working relationship with someone that you already have had the opportunity to work with," a source close to Jones told Daniels. Jones is a 2023 bounce-back candidate after his numbers dipped across the board this past year -- although we're still not excited about his fantasy upside.

The Patriots hired Bill O'Brien as OC. He returns to the same position he held in 2011, when New England ranked 2nd in total yards and 3rd in points with QB Tom Brady. O'Brien was also on the Patriots' offensive staff from 2007 to 2010, so he has plenty of familiarity with the organization. Since leaving New England after that 2011 campaign, O'Brien spent 2 years as Penn State's HC, 7 years as the Texans' HC and, most recently, the past 2 years as Alabama's OC. If nothing else, the Patriots will have a legitimate offensive mind running the offense in 2023 -- something they didn't have this past season.

NBC Sports' Tom Curran hears that "offensive coaching reassignments" are expected in New England this offseason. In other words, expect a legitimate offensive coordinator to be hired after the Patriots experimented with a combination of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge running the offense this past season. We'll see exactly what the Patriots do to the offensive side of the staff, but it's likely to be good news for QB Mac Jones and the skill-position guys.

Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne caught 6 of 9 targets for 100 yards and a TD in Saturday's loss to the Bengals. He led the team in all 3 categories (tying Jakobi Meyers in receptions) and added a 29-yard carry. Bourne did all that despite trailing Meyers and rookie WR Tyquan Thornton in playing time and routes, according to Pro Football Focus. Meyers posted a 6-83-1 receiving line on 7 targets, though he inflated that with a 48-yard TD on a ball that was intended for WR Scotty Washington but bounced to Meyers off Washington's hands. Meyers did lead the team in pass routes, though, which makes him easier to like for a Week 17 clash with the Dolphins. Thornton finished with just 1 catch for 8 yards among 3 targets. QB Mac Jones threw for 240 yards and 2 TDs in the game.

Patriots HC Bill Belichick refused to commit to QB Mac Jones as his starter the rest of the way when asked on Thursday. Jones has been bad for most of the season and bottomed out with 112 passing yards on 3.6 yards per attempt vs. the Raiders last week. It's possible that we see QB Bailey Zappe again this year -- but you should be trying to avoid this passing game in fantasy lineups.