New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has yet to name a starting quarterback for the Pats' Week 12 matchup against the New York Giants. Belichick told all his signal-callers to "be ready to go," but we now know one quarterback has been eliminated from the competition.
On Saturday, the Patriots waived quarterback Will Grier, per ESPN. He was one of three quarterbacks on the active roster along with Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe. Rookie Malik Cunningham is on the Patriots' practice squad. New England could wait to name its starter until as late as Sunday morning, per The Athletic, after Jones and Zappe split first-team reps in practice this week and performed similarly.
Grier did not play a snap for the Patriots this season. He was signed to New England's active roster in September off of the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad. Grier was originally a third-round pick of the Carolina Panthers out of West Virginia in 2019. He made two starts for Carolina, and completed 28 of 52 passes for 228 yards and four interceptions. After being released in 2021, Grier found his way to the Dallas Cowboys, but was among their final roster cuts this preseason.
Jones has started in all 10 games this season, winning just two of those contests while completing 65.4% of his passes for 2,031 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His yards per attempt, touchdown to interception ratio and passer rating have decreased every year since entering the NFL in 2021. The former No. 15 overall pick out of Alabama was a Pro Bowler as a rookie. Now, it's a legitimate question if he will be with New England in 2024.
While Zappe hasn't started a game this season, he has replaced Jones under center three times in 2023. He has completed 10 of 25 passes for 104 yards and one interception this season.
