WATCH: Mac is Back – Observations from Thursday’s Patriots Practice Ahead of Monday Night Football vs. Bears

FOXBORO, Mass. – If there was any doubt up until now, let it be known: Mac Jones is going to play on Monday.

The Patriots took the field on Thursday afternoon ahead of their Monday Night Football matchup against the Chicago Bears – and they took it to the tune of ESPN’s famous Monday Night Football theme song, which seemingly pumped up myself and fellow media members just as much as it did the team.

The main story of the day, of course, is quarterback Mac Jones. Jones injured his left ankle against the Ravens just under four weeks ago, and is now gearing up to play on Monday according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

Make no mistake about it, Mac is ready to play. Here’s the evidence:

An extended look at his warmups with fellow QB’s Bailey Zappe and Garrett Gilbert:

Here he is warming up with his teammates, clearly exerting far more energy into that ankle than we’ve seen over the course of the last several weeks:

And another look. I mean… he’s basically sprinting:

I wrote this morning about how the “quarterback controversy” here in Foxboro is essentially a myth:

The stars now seem to be aligning for [Jones’] return to the lineup.

Backup quarterback Bailey Zappe has been stellar in Jones’ absence, going 2-0 as a starter and throwing for 596 yards, 5 touchdowns, one interception, and sporting a 111.4 passer rating.

Now that Jones expects to be ready, the potential “quarterback controversy” that everyone wants will inevitably begin.

I don’t see them continuing on with Zappe. What I do expect the Patriots to do is call a similar style of offense that they have over the course of three games with him at the helm. 

Now that the buzz is back around Jones, the idea that he wouldn’t play when healthy seems all the more silly.

Mac is the Patriots quarterback, and he’s playing on Monday night.

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