New England Patriots announce emergency quarterback after making new signing

23 September 2023 , 11:10

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New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has announced the signing of a new quarterback (Image: dam Glanzman/Getty Images)

The New England Patriots have added a new quarterback to their roster ahead of their Week 3 game against AFC East rivals the New York Jets in the early NFL season.

The Patriots have been busy making changes to their QB room in recent weeks. Despite a number of moves behind him, Mac Jones has remained the franchise quarterback at Gillette Stadium in what is his third season in the league.

Now Bill Belichick has announced that Will Grier - released by the Dallas Cowboys last month and training with the Cincinnati Bengals as the await news on the fitness of Joe Burrow - has been signed by the Patriots.

“We signed Will Grier off the Cincinnati practice squad and he’ll be the third quarterback this week,” Belichick told reporters on Friday, via .

“We want to work with him,” Belichick said. “We need depth at that position.”

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In the off-season, the NFL updated the rule which allowed teams to use a third emergency quarterback on the active gameday roster without taking up a roster spot. This came after the injuries to Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson for the San Francisco 49ers in last season’s NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now the Patriots will have Jones as the starting quarterback, Bailey Zappe as the back-up and Grier as the third choice. It’s the latest in a series of changes that have been made to the QB room.

It began at the end of August when Zappe and Malik Cunningham were both waived by the Patriots. Soon after, the AFC East franchise opted to sign Matt Corral from the Carolina Panthers.

That move would only last a couple of weeks, with it announced that Corral had been waived by the team. The decision came after Zappe, who was initially released at the end of August, was re-signed by the Patriots and installed as the team’s back-up quarterback.

Now the Patriots will have three QBs as part of their gameday roster for the Week 3 game against the Jets at MetLife Stadium. Jones will be the starter, while Zappe will be in reserve and Grier will be the option should both players go down.

For the Jets, Zach Wilson is now the starting quarterback for the team after franchise quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained an Achilles’ tendon injury. The Patriots go into the game 0-2 after two defeats, while the Jets are 1-1 and lost to the Cowboys in their last game.

Mark Wakefield