When it comes to Mac Jones, the Patriots are in a tough spot. Like it or not, they have to play him.

Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien met with the media earlier this week and said that all three quarterbacks are getting first team reps at practice. Does that mean that Jones has been benched? Not necessarily.

Jones can still get the bulk of the reps and be the starting quarterback on Sunday against the Giants. He is most familiar with the system and working with the first team so the expectation is he will either start and play the entire game or start and be pulled if he struggles.

Either way, the Patriots are in a tough spot because Jones is the team’s best option at the position despite his struggles this season. The Patriots already knows what Zappe can do and while they haven’t seen Will Grier play, chances are, he is no better than Jones given his limited reps and experience in the system.

In his press conference,  O’Brien acknowledged that all three quarterbacks are getting starter reps but the final decision on who starts would be Bill Belichick’s.

For what it’s worth, Jones teammates still seem to have faith in him and have praised him for continuing to work hard despite the circumstances.

Jones himself continues to remain positive. He was asked on Wednesday if he think he will start this week.

“Hope so. I mean, that’s the plan. I think I always work really hard for that, really put a lot of attention and detail into the week, like I talked about. A lot of that decision making is things I can’t control, but I can control my attitude and my effort like I talked about, and I’m really thankful overall to be in the NFL and be playing quarterback on Thanksgiving. It’s a great week to be grateful for a lot of things, and to play this game, the game that we love, together, I think that means a lot to me regardless of the situation.”

Jones is saying all the right things as usual but he until he starts playing better, none of it matters. The Patriots are in a tough spot. They have to rep the other quarterbacks more because they more than likely will need to play them. It is an unenviable position to be as a franchise.

It would be foolish to think that the Jones won’t play again this season. Most people universally thought he was done after being benched at the end of the Colts game but that is not the case. You will see again. It will probably be on Sunday against the Giants.