Devin McCourty thinks Will Grier will start at quarterback for Patriots

BOSTON -- Conversations at dinner tables around New England on Thursday no doubt touched on the dire situation at quarterback for the New England Patriots. Third-year starter Mac Jones appears to be broken, second-year backup Bailey Zappe might be worse, and the 2-8 Patriots don't seem to have any solution.

It's that predicament -- combined with some firsthand knowledge of how Bill Belichick handles practice sessions open to the media -- that has Patriots legend Devin McCourty believing that third-stringer Will Grier may get the call at QB this weekend against the Giants.

"Honestly, from like looking at some of the reports, I think it's going to be Will Grier," McCourty said on WEEI's The Greg Hill Show this week. "Yeah, I think all of the media portions have been Bailey and Mac going back and forth taking the first-team reps, but I think that they're doing that to like make sure no one knows [about Grier]."

While Grier hasn't played in an NFL game since 2019, McCourty thinks that the unknown may be the team's best shot.

"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," McCourty explained. "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."

The 28-year-old Grier was selected in the third round of the 2019 draft out of West Virginia, where he threw 71 touchdowns with 20 interceptions and a 9.4 average yards per attempt. He started two games in his rookie season for the Panthers, completing just 53.8 percent of his passes with no touchdowns and four interceptions, good for a 33.2 rating.

He moved on to the Cowboys in 2021, signed with the Bengals' practice squad this summer, and ended up signing with the Patriots in September.

Belichick wouldn't reveal any plans for his starting quarterback this week, only telling the media that he's told all of his players to be ready to play. Jones said that he hopes and plans to start on Sunday, but most of us likely won't know the choice until Sunday around 1 p.m.