FRANKFURT, Germany — Mac Jones’ future as the Patriots’ starting quarterback is officially up in the air.

Jones was benched for a third time in Sunday’s 10-6 loss to the Colts at Frankfurt Stadium, but this time was different. The game was on the line with 1:52 left in the fourth quarter with the Patriots trailing by four points when Jones was officially pulled with Bailey Zappe being inserted into the offense.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick previously said he had pulled Jones because the score was out of hand in consecutive losses to the Cowboys and Saints. This time?

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“I just thought it was time for a change.”

Jones was benched after what he described as a “terrible throw.” With 4:25 left on the clock and facing second-and-12, Jones lofted a pass inexplicably short to tight end Mike Gesicki that was intercepted by safety Julian Blackmon. It came after Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was shown on TV blowing up at his quarterback earlier in the game on a near-pick aimed at tight end Hunter Henry that was touched by Blackmon.

“Practiced it, hit it in practice, just not a good throw, and I knew where to go,” Jones said of his interception. “I just didn’t do it. Didn’t do it right.”

Jones was spotted after the game walking into the X-ray room. He said he was “good” and “just got a little bruise.”

“There were some things I was working through, but it doesn’t matter,” Jones said later. “No excuses.”

It’s unclear where the Patriots turn at this point. Belichick committed to Jones after the last two times the quarterback was benched. That did not happen Sunday afternoon.

“Yeah, we’re worry about next week next week,” Belichick said. “The game just finished a half hour ago.”

Zappe threw a game-clinching interception in his only drive. The Patriots also have third-string QB Will Grier on their 53-man roster and quarterback/wide receiver Malik Cunningham on their practice squad. With a bye week coming, now would be an ideal time to make a change at quarterback.

“I think we have two really good quarterbacks,” safety Jabrill Peppers said. “Really three with Will. Really four with Malik. In practice, they do their thing, but it’s all about executing on Sundays or whenever we play. That’s really all it comes down to. Nobody really cares what you do during the week. It’s when the lights are on, the All-22 film is recording, what are we doing then? Right now, we’re not doing a good job executing, playing situational football or complementary football for that matter.”

It seemingly would be more difficult to reinsert Jones as the Patriots’ starting quarterback after he was benched with the game on the line.

“Yeah, again, we’ll deal with next week next week,” Belichick said.