FOXBOROUGH, Mass – Jack Jones and J.C. Jackson were missing from action during the New England Patriots' first few defensive series. Instead, it was Shaun Wade who got the start alongside Jonathan Jones. 

This was an odd move by head coach Bill Belichick, leaving many to think the two players might have been benched. And when asked about it, Belichick tried to clear things up, but in a way that is very typical for the coach. 

"No," Belichick said. "Everybody played. They all played." 

However, the Athletic's Jeff Howe's latest report seems to have caught the Patriots head coach in a bit of a lie. 

"Patriots cornerbacks J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones opened the game against the Commanders on the bench today due to recent performance issues, per sources," Howe wrote. "Both entered the game later."

Jones missed the entire first quarter of Sunday's contest, while Jackson was sidelined for the first two drives. 

Reporters lined up around Jackson's locker following the game, but the cornerback declined to talk. And according to the Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan, Jack Jones left the building and did not speak to any reporters either. 

Fellow cornerback Myles Bryant spoke with A to Z Sports about this controversial decision, but he was not made aware of any changes and deferred the question back to the coaching staff. 

“I'm not not quite sure that's something you have to ask coach," he said. 

Adrian Phillips was also asked about the incident (per The Boston Herald's Doug Kyed). 

"I can't get into that, but if you want to know what that is, you're going to have to talk to them," Phillips said. "But they ended up playing so it is what it is." 

Let's see how this all plays out in the coming days. 

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