Who the New England Patriots will start at quarterback in Sunday's Week 6 road game against the Cleveland Browns remains a mystery.
The team hasn't ruled out the possibility of Mac Jones returning to game action. The 2021 first-round draft pick suffered an ankle injury in the Patriots' Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens and has missed the last two games.
It sounds like Jones will be less than 100 percent if he plays Sunday, and if that's the case, it probably doesn't make sense to put him out on the field. There's no reason to risk further injury and pain, especially when he's your franchise quarterback.
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Here's the latest update on Jones' status, per NFL Network's Mike Giardi:
The quickest path back to being a Super Bowl contender for the Patriots is Jones developing into a top-tier quarterback. It's hard to do that when he's playing with ankle issues.
The Patriots also are good enough to beat the Browns with rookie Bailey Zappe starting at quarterback. It's not like they need Jones to have any chance of winning this game, so why not give him another week to heal and go from there?
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Zappe played well in a Week 4 loss to the Green Bay Packers and helped lead the Patriots to a 29-0 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 5. Zappe and running back Rhamondre Stevenson should be able to score enough points against a lackluster Browns defense to leave Cleveland with a victory.