Scott Zolak: I wouldn’t pick up Mac Jones’ fifth-year option

Through the first four weeks of the NFL season, Mac Jones' stock is at an all-time low. And Scott Zolak isn't picking up his fifth-year option.

Marc Bertrand: I'm ready to pull the plug.

Scott Zolak: So who are you going to? You're going to get [Will] Grier ready?

Marc Bertrand: I mean, I think it's a multi-year process. I don't think you're dumping Mac Jones tomorrow, but I'm not picking up the option on Mac Jones.

Scott Zolak: Well, last night's the biggest comp. I'm serious, and you say, well, 'what's last night Zo?' Daniel Jones is the biggest comp. The problem was you let him ride into that last year without picking up his option. He had a decent year that year and gun to the head they paid him.

Marc Bertrand: You've repeatedly said you've got to pick up the option of Mac Jones. What would you do now? Have you changed right now?

Scott Zolak: I would not pick it up.

Marc Bertrand: Okay, so you have changed your mind on that.

Scott Zolak: But you asked me two weeks ago when it looks like, OK, this is progressing for me. He's going to be OK, because he likes the coach and I think he's going to get taught well this year. Mechanically, did you have any issues with him first three games mechanically? Other than that errant throw on the pick-6 against the Eagles that got away from him. Was he throwing off the back foot? Was he throwing lazy balls in the flat? As many mistakes as he made the other day?

Hardy: No, not as many as he made the other day.

Marc Bertrand: I loved him out of the gate and against Philly that was really strong baseline.

Hardy: That's what I'm saying. If we're not going to give him excuse for weather, which nobody wants to, but he looked terrible out of the gate against Philly. He still has issues throwing out on the flat and screens and simple throws that you know, you're not expecting to be game-breakers, but can you at least put it where it's supposed to go so that you can pick up three or four yards? And a lot of times you can't. The Daniel Jones comparison, again, as if we didn't need another reason to not love it.

Marc Bertrand: Brother Jones. Mac and Daniel. What's the diff?

Hardy: Watching the end of the game last night, he makes a couple of plays and then makes a completely inexcusable game-changing 14-point swing of a play where it's like, okay, well you can't ride with this guy. You can't have that.

Scott Zolak: 4 for $160 [million]. They're forced to now. Like that's where you don't want to go. Like I say, pick it up because it's low risk at $23 [million]...

Marc Bertrand: Don't waste our time.

Hardy: But the way the team looks like it at it, if you want to be cheap and if you want to get a starting quarterback on the low end, you're getting a guy for five years for $43 million instead of one year for $45 million. That's the way they look at it.

The New England Patriots fell to 1-3 on the season after an embarrassing 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Here are 10 players we graded "UP" or "DOWN" based on their performance in the game...

Unfortunately, this game was so bad and Mac Jones was so bad that we have to start with a DOWN. And Jones was that much of a down. He was 12-of-21 for 150 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a back-breaking pick-six late in the second quarter. Jones also lost a fumble that was returned for a score.

Jones ended up being benched in the middle of the third quarter, with the game out of hand. He deserved the benching. Jones isn't particularly gifted physically - his throw on the pick-six looked horrible, wobbly with a noticeable lack of velocity - but if he's making bad decisions and turning the ball over on top of a lack of pure physical talent, he has no chance.

The discussion around the Patriots this week will center on the quarterback and head coach. It still doesn't feel like a strong possibility that Jones is benched for good, but he played bad enough to make it worth talking about for a week.

Stevenson looked as good as he has all season so far in this one, despite the chaos in front of him. Stevenson had five carries go for no gain or negative yardage, but it's obvious at this point that it's more about shaky blocking than him. He had a good, hard 12-yard run called back because of a holding penalty way behind the play.

The numbers look bad for Stevenson, but he passed the eye test on Sunday, when he had a fair chance to carry the rock. It's too bad the Pats can't block right now.

Four catches for 51 yards for Henry, and looked good in the process. One of his catches was a diving one-hander. Henry has been a consistently reliable target for Mac Jones and one of the most consistent players on the team. No real complaints about him in this game, which was otherwise a stinker.

Just one catch on five targets for Smith-Schuster, and even his one reception came up one yard short of a first down. The Patriots signed him to convert those plays.

On top of that, Smith-Schuster was in as a blocker on a failed fourth down push play with Mac Jones, and still appears out of sync with the quarterback or unsure what to do from play to play. This signing has simply not worked out so far.

Dugger had a team-leading 15 total tackles on the day, one of which went for a loss of yardage. He showed a little something in this game, which virtually no one on the offense did. The defense wasn't great but it didn't have a terrible day, either, and Dugger can be counted among the rare good things.

If the opponent is running well on this defense, it almost certainly means the middle linebacker and chief run-stopper at the second level isn't having a great day. Tony Pollard averaged 4.3 yards per carry, and the same average on runs up the middle. It's not all on Bentley, but you need more than just five tackles from your MLB against a team that runs the ball 30 times.

Tavai racked up a sack, two tackles for loss, and a pass breakup in a largely good afternoon. He's been a pleasant surprise over the last season-plus, overall. It's tough to put much, if any, of this bad loss on him.

It's tough to blame any one player for the Cowboys' successful fake field goal try that earned them a two-point conversion. Perhaps no players deserve blame. You can easily point to special teams coaches Joe Judge and Cam Achord for that one. They weren't even close to ready for that play. Total breakdown by that particular unit.

It was an active day for Wise, who had a sack and four total tackles. There were other plays in which Wise didn't record anything on the official stat sheet, but clearly had a hand in the pressure up front. His edge defense against the run has always left something to be desired, but this was a good day overall for Wise.

Onwenu had three penalties. Two false starts helped stall out offensive drives, and a holding penalty negated a 12-yard run by Rhamondre Stevenson. Onwenu is a good player and better than he's shown overall since returning, and should get better as the season progresses. But his lack of off-season work is showing.

Next Ups & Downs will come after the Patriots finally return home to take on the New Orleans Saints in Week 5 at Gillette Stadium.

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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt's content here.