Jakobi Meyers did not like seeing Mac Jones get benched for Bailey Zappe on Monday Night Football

BOSTON -- The Patriots entered their Monday night matchup against the Bears with a very weird plan at quarterback. Outside of Bill Belichick, Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, and a stray reporter or two, nobody else really even knew that plan.

That plan, such as it was, also went sideways in a hurry. Jones and the offense got off to a slow start, and the home crowd let out some light boos as well as some chants for Zappe. And after the second-year quarterback threw an ill-advised interception, Jones was taken out of the game. Zappe entered and immediately electrified the offense, leading two touchdown drives.

After that, though, things got ugly. "Zappe Fever" died out in a hurry, Jones stayed on the bench for the rest of the night, and the Patriots were left scratching their heads after a 33-14 thumping at the hands of the Chicago Bears, who entered the night at 2-4.

For Jones, what could have been a triumphant return from injury turned out to be a nightmare. From a quick hook to having the home crowd turn on him on national TV, the whole string of events was about as bad as could have been imagined.

One person who didn't enjoy seeing Jones go through all of that was receiver Jakobi Meyers. And the fourth-year receiver said as much in the losing locker room.

"Not even as a football player. I mean, it's tough as a man to see somebody who worked so hard kind of get that kind of treatment," Meyers said. "But at the end of the day, we're all trying to feed our families, so we've got to go out there and make plays with whoever's throwing it."

Meyers caught a 30-yrad touchdown from Zappe -- a poorly thrown ball to a wide-open receiver -- to help jump-start the offense after Zappe entered. He had just one other catch for four yards, while also being part of a failed handoff from Zappe that led to a Patriots turnover.

The Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan followed up with Meyers, asking for clarification on what he meant with the "treatment" comment.

"Not even the coaches, just everybody," Meyers said. "The crowd, all of it. It was an ugly situation, in my opinion." 

MassLive's Mark Daniels also reported that one offensive player approached Jones in the postgame locker room and apologized for the way things played out in the game. Daniels also said that Rhamondre Stevenson relayed that he did not know both quarterbacks would be playing, while starting guard Mike Onwenu said that he didn't know that Zappe would be playing. 

As for Jones, he took a more diplomatic approach when asked how he felt to hear the home crowd chanting for Zappe early in the game.

"Yeah, I think obviously, like I said earlier, definitely wanted to play better. I just have to do better at my job, and that's all it comes down to. That's all I can control," Jones said. "Honestly, we've got a good chance here to go against the Jets, and that's what I'm focused on. I'm going to do my best to put my best foot forward. I've been in this situation before, and just going to try to help the team. Whatever my role is, I'll be ready, and I'll give it 100 percent." 

Whatever the case may be moving forward, there's little doubt that Monday night's shell game at quarterback was just as befuddling to some players as it was to the rest of us.