The New England Patriots quarterback situation looked even bleaker in their loss to the New York Giants as Mac Jones was benched again and Bailey Zappe failed to impress, possibly leaving the door open for Bill Belichick to make a move.

Speaking to reporters Monday, the Patriots coach didn't say that an outside move to acquire a quarterback is coming, but he didn't shut the door on it happening, either.

“I don’t really see that right now,” Belichick said when asked if he thought the team could bring an outside quarterback. “But I mean, I wouldn’t rule anything out, anything that would help our team. We’ve brought in players at any position. You never know what’s going to happen. If I think there’s somebody, if our pro scouting department thinks there is somebody that would help us, we’ll certainly listen to it and take a look at it, at any position. It’s not really about the quarterback position. It would really be any position. I don’t know. Nobody that comes to mind, but we’ll see.”

Belichick's openness to a possible late-season quarterback addition would be rare, but not a surprise considering everything that's gone on with the team this season. As mentioned earlier, Jones was benched for a fourth time this season in Sunday's loss after throwing two interceptions in the first half. Zappe completed 9 of 14 passes for just 54 yards with an interception, which set the Giants up for the game-winning score in the Patriots' 10-7 loss.

The decision to start Jones on Sunday caught some by surprise as he was benched in the Patriots' Week 10 loss to the Colts. But the team reportedly split reps between the two at practice during the week and never officially named who'd be the starter.

However, Belichick indicated things were a bit different than what some of the reports said.

“Mac got the majority of the reps,” Belichick told WEEI’s ‘The Greg Hill Show.” “But Zappe got plenty of reps this week.”

Who could the Patriots bring in for an outside quarterback?

The Patriots have already brought a few outsiders at quarterback this season, including Will Grier. But the team released him from the active roster on Saturday to make room for offensive tackle Conor McDermott.

Belichick indicated to reporters following Sunday's game that Grier could possibly rejoin the team on the practice squad. They've also signed Matt Corral to the active roster and Ian Book to the practice squad this year, but both were released a while back.

There aren't many options outside of those players. Colt McCoy is likely considered to be the top veteran quarterback on the free-agent market as the trade deadline is well past. If they really wanted to make a buzz, they could sign Colin Kaepernick, who hasn't played in the NFL since 2016 following the kneeling controversy.