Reports indicate the New England Patriots will stick with Mac Jones as their starting quarterback when they play the New York Giants on Sunday.

If that’s the case, then Jones will be going against one of his former coaches at Alabama. Giants head coach Brian Daboll was the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator in 2017, when Jones was a redshirt in his first year at Alabama.

The Tide had current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts as its starter, with current Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as the backup during a CFP national-championship season.

“I’ve had experience with Mac when he was a true freshman at Alabama,” Daboll said on Wednesday. “I thought he did — all of them were really good college players, Mac had an exceptional senior year. Fought through playing behind Tua and Jalen with the right approach, right attitude, the right mindset and had a really good senior year. Broke a lot of records.”

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Jones also had a CFP national-championship season at Alabama in 2020 and left as a first-round draft pick of the Patriots. He played in the Pro Bowl as a rookie and New England went to the playoffs, but it’s been downhill over the past two seasons for the Patriots.

New England enters Sunday’s game with a 2-8 record. In their previous contest, the Patriots benched Jones for their final possession, even though they still had a chance to pull out a victory. Instead, New England ended up with a 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

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Jones’ benching with the game on the line led to the assumption that Jones was through as the Patriots’ starting QB. But New England coach Bill Belichick spent the past week telling reporters he had told all the quarterbacks to be ready without announcing which would start against New York.

That led to extra work for Daboll and his coaching staff. Not only did they study Jones, but they tried to get ready for backup Bailey Zappe, third-stringer Will Grier and practice-squad member Malik Cunningham, a former Park Crossing High School standout.

“You go back and watch all the quarterbacks that they have on their roster,” Daboll said on Friday. “You obviously watch the offensive scheme. That changes from week-to-week, too, but the throws that they’ve made and the games they’ve played, you’ve got to be ready for the schematics of it. …

“I’ve watched every game that they’ve all played in pro football and some in college, so, again, whatever it is, whoever is out there, that’s who we have to be ready to defend. If you guys figure out who it’s going to be, you guys can let me know.”

It turned out Daboll wasted some of his time. New England waived Grier and did not elevate Cunningham from the practice squad, so the Patriots’ available quarterbacks on Sunday will be Jones and Zappe.

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