The New England Patriots are in a tough spot at quarterback with starter Mac Jones reportedly having suffered a "pretty severe" high ankle sprain in Sunday's Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
He is "likely to miss multiple games" with the injury, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday night.
The Patriots' next four games are against the Green Bay Packers on the road, the Detroit Lions at home, the Cleveland Browns on the road and the Chicago Bears at home. Aside from the Packers matchup, the rest are pretty winnable games.
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But how much confidence should the Patriots have in backup Brian Hoyer and rookie Bailey Zappe -- the two healthy quarterbacks currently on the 53-man roster? Hoyer has lost his last 11 starts. Zappe threw an interception in each of New England's three preseason games in August and has zero regular season experience.
If Jones is going to be out several games and the Patriots want to add some quarterback depth, the free agent market is one place to look. However, the options available are not very enticing, to put it mildly.
Here's the list of notable unrestricted free agent QBs, sorted from youngest to oldest.
- Jacob Eason, 24
- Josh Rosen, 25
- Ben DiNucci, 25
- Will Grier, 26
- Tim Boyle, 27
- Davis Webb, 27
- Nathan Peterman, 27
- Brett Hundley, 28
- A.J. McCarron, 31
- Mike Glennon, 32
- Cam Newton, 32
- Josh Johnson, 35