Patriots Gridiron News: Will Grier to start vs Giants? NFL legend talks Belichick
The big question heading into the Week 12 matchup between the New England Patriots and New York Giants is who will get the nod on Sunday as the signal caller for the Pats?
Will the team stick with Mac Jones or go with second-year quarterback Bailey Zappe or will it be Will Grier, the former third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft?
While Patriots head coach Bill Belichick isn’t giving anything away, a Patriots legend is giving his intake on who will start against the Giants. Appearing on Wednesday’s edition of The Greg Hill show, Devin McCourty was asked to give insight on who he would start on Sunday if he was Belichick.
"I honestly, from looking at some of the reports, I think it's going to be Will Grier," McCourty said during his appearance on the WEEI show. "I think all of the media portions have been Bailey [Zappe] and Mac [Jones] going back and forth taking the first team reps, but I think they're doing that to make sure no one knows. But I think, to bench Mac in that last game in Germany against the Colts with two minutes left, I just think they've seen a lot of Zappe, they've seen a lot of Mac. Will Grier's a guy that they really haven't seen much, and he's a professional. He's been in the league for a while, in different situations. I think there's a chance he starts Sunday."
Patriots need a spark on offense and maybe Will Grier is that spark
Obviously, Mac Jones is still hopeful Belichick will stick with him, but to piggyback on what McCourty has said, going in a completely different direction by giving Grier a shot to start could give the team a little spark coming out of the bye week.
As for the third-year quarterback, in 2019 he started two games in his rookie season with the Carolina Panthers. In those two games, he completed 53.8 percent of his passes for 228 yards, no touchdowns and 4 interceptions. While those numbers would excite Patriots fans, Grier did light it up in a preseason finale game with the Dallas Cowboys.
In that eye-opening performance, Grier throw for 305 yards with two touchdowns while rushing for 53 yards and adding another couple of touchdowns on the ground. If not for the Cowboys having a steady backup in Cooper Rush and Trey Lance as their third quarterback option, Grier would’ve won himself a spot in Dallas. Instead, he could have an opportunity to get a real shot with the Patriots.
Former NFL quarterback gives his thoughts on Bill Belichick’s hot seat
With how things have gone with the New England Patriots this season, it would be more surprising if Bill Belichick was back as the head coach in 2024.
With more than a quarterback decision on his mind, the legendary coach has all kinds of rumors swirling around him through the midway part of the NFL season. None of those rumors seem to have him returning to the Patriots. During an appearance on The Greg Hill show, Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason offered his insights on what might be next with Belichick.
“I would think that it’s unlikely both are back next year,” Esiason said when asked about both Mac Jones and Belichick. “Let’s put it that way. I think that that’s why I put that one on the top of the list, that one of the two are not going to be back, and most likely Mac Jones is not going to be back.”
With his struggles as the starting quarterback this season, that part is obvious Boomer, so what about Belichick?
“Number two, I would probably say that I would not be surprised if Bill was coaching somewhere else next year,” Esiason said. “I would not be surprised. Now, I’m not going to go to the length of some people and say, ‘I know exactly where he’s going because he knows where he’s going.’ I’m not gonna say that because I don’t know that. I have no inkling of that.”
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The former NFL quarterback went on to say that he expects Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Belichick to part ways respectfully, but the days of Belichick coaching the team he led to six Super Bowl victories seem to be dwindling even if the team somehow strings together a few wins to end the season.