After missing the past three games with an ankle injury, quarterback Mac Jones returned to the New England Patriots’ lineup in Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bears.

But after three Patriots’ possessions, Bailey Zappe replaced the former Alabama All-American, and the New England offense responded by jolting to life.

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With the Patriots trailing 9-0, Zappe completed his first two passes for 20 and 30 yards, with the latter resulting in a touchdown reception for wide receiver Jakobi Meyers with 9:43 left in the first half.

When New England regained possession, Zappe started the series with a 43-yard completion to wide receiver DeVante Parker to the Chicago 7-yard line. Two snaps later, the Patriots had a 14-10 lead with 6:04 remaining in the first half.

New England’s first two possessions had gone three-and-out, and the third series ended when Jones was intercepted by Chicago safety Jaquan Brisker. When the Patriots regained possession, Zappe came in at quarterback.

Jones had completed 3-of-6 passes for 13 yards with no touchdowns and one interception and run three times for 24 yards.

The 15th choice in the 2021 NFL Draft, Jones had served as New England’s starting quarterback in every game of his career until he sustained an ankle injury on the final offensive snap of a 37-26 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 25.

Veteran Brian Hoyer got the start on Oct. 2 but suffered a concussion in the first quarter. In his NFL debut, Zappe finished the 27-24 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers, then went all the way under center as the Patriots defeated the Detroit Lions 29-0 on Oct. 9 and the Cleveland Browns 38-15 on Oct. 16.

The fourth-round pick completed 51-of-70 passes for 596 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in helping New England even its 2022 record at 3-3.

Jones completed 64-of-97 passes for 786 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions in the first three games of 2022.

Last season, Jones completed 352-of-521 passes for 3,801 yards with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and earned a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team in 2021.

The New England injury report listed Jones as a limited participant in practice last week and designated his playing status for Monday night’s game as questionable.

Zappe’s third series under center didn’t go as well as the first two on Monday night. He lost a fumble after the Bears had taken a three-point lead, and Chicago turned it into a last-snap field goal to take a 20-14 halftime lead.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.