The resiliency of the New England Patriots is being put to the test with quarterback Mac Jones likely to miss several games after suffering a serious ankle injury in Week 3's loss to the Baltimore Ravens at home last Sunday. Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater, however, is not going to let the bad news on Mac Jones hurt his spirits.

Via Zack Cox of NESN:

“I do believe that we’ll respond the right way,” Slater said in a video conference. “We’re very early on in our season here, and if we don’t handle it the right way, this thing can spiral away from us. Needless to say, when you lose a player at that position of that caliber, it is challenging. But we have confidence in all the quarterbacks on our roster. Obviously, Coach (Bill Belichick) has them on our roster for a reason.”

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With Mac Jones extremely unlikely to suit up for Week 4's showdown with the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, the Patriots are expected to give the starting duties under center to veteran Brian Hoyer, who is listed as the team's primary backup quarterback. Hoyer has yet to appear in a game this season, but the 36-year-old signal-caller has a ton of experience. So far in his career, Hoyer has appeared in 75 games (39 starts).

The Patriots also have rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe on the depth chart. While Hoyer is ahead of him in the pecking order, he's got some dark horse appeal to eventually start games for New England while Mac Jones recuperates from injury, especially if Hoyer struggles.