Mac Jones pulled amid dismal game but remains Patriots' starter - ESPN

ARLINGTON, Texas — In the midst of the worst loss of his head-coaching career, Patriots coach Bill Belichick pulled starting quarterback Mac Jones with 3:41 remaining in the third quarter, saying it wasn't a benching and that Jones remains the team's No. 1 option.

«I didn't think there was any point of leaving him in the game,» Belichick said after his New England Patriots were blown out by the Dallas Cowboys, 38-3, at AT&T Stadium.

The Patriots (1-3) host the Saints (2-2) on Sunday and Belichick said the plan is for Jones to start despite a disastrous performance against the Cowboys that included an interception returned for a touchdown, another interception thrown while backpedaling and one lost fumble returned for a touchdown.

Jones, the 2021 first-round pick out of Alabama, finished 12-of-21 for 150 yards, with the three turnovers.

«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.»

The Patriots have scored 55 points this season, their fewest through four games since the 2000 season — Belichick's first season as coach — when they had 51. While there had been pockets of offensive promise through their first three games, and even in the first quarter Sunday, things imploded for Jones over a 17-minute stretch from the early part of the second quarter into the team's first drive of the second half.

«I feel like I made progress this year so far. Just not today. Definitely took a bunch of steps back,» Jones said.

The slide began when Jones didn't convert a sneak on fourth-and-1. On the next drive,