New England Patriots

Shannon Sharpe used a ‘girlfriend’ analogy to explain why Mac Jones isn’t a good fit for Patriots

“If I’m Mac Jones, how many times must your girlfriend break up with you, start dating someone else and you take her back?”

Mac Jones. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Patriots quarterback Mac Jones has been benched four times in 11 games this season. But no matter how bad it’s gotten, they’ve gone back to him as the starter every time.

Still, an increasing number of pundits are saying that Jones’s time in New England should come to an end. ESPN’s Shannon Sharpe joined the chorus, comparing Bill Belichick’s decisions to bench Jones to a girlfriend in an on-again-off-again relationship.

“If I’m Mac Jones, how many times must your girlfriend break up with you, start dating someone else and you take her back?” Sharpe said during a recent appearance on “First Take.” “At some point in time, it’s, ‘You know what? We ain’t meant to be. We ain’t meant to be.’ And Mac Jones and New England, they’re not meant to be. It’s really that simple.”

“It’s toxic,” added ESPN’s Ryan Clark, who played eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Sharpe said Belichick should have Bailey Zappe finish the season as the starter instead of putting Jones through repeated benchings. Clark disagreed with Sharpe’s suggestion.

“The old adage is true,” Clark said. “If you have two quarterbacks, you ain’t got one. That’s what’s going on with the New England Patriots. Mac Jones isn’t good enough, but they know for sure that Bailey Zappe can’t do it on a consistent basis.

“So you’re at least trying to go with the dude you think is OK in Mac Jones and he keeps proving to you that not only is he broken, but your system is broken.”

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