Bill Belichick gives detailed assessment of Patriots QB Bailey Zappe’s recent play
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Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but Patriots head coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t name a starting quarterback ahead of Sunday’s contest with the Chiefs.
Belichick said Monday morning on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” that he’s “not announcing who’s doing what.”
Still, Belichick seems fairly pleased with Zappe’s performance over the last two weeks, when the second-year pro has started two games and led the Patriots to a 1-1 record.
“Bailey’s been pretty consistent. For the most part, he’s done a good job of taking care of the ball at the quarterback position. We haven’t had a lot of negative plays, turnovers and just negative plays, penalties that are related to the quarterback position, like delay of game, things like that,” Belichick said. “He’s done a good job of managing the team and taking care of the ball.
“There’s always plays that players and coaches can do a little better when you look back over the game. But again, everybody who plays in the game feels that way. Bailey works hard, tries to correct his mistakes, tries to learn each week and learn each day. So I’m sure he’ll continue to do that.
“But good preparation and attention to detail certainly puts him on the right path to better performance in the games. That’s what we’re all here for.”
The Patriots’ offense certainly moved the ball better in the first half of Thursday night’s 21-18 victory over the Steelers better than it has for most of the 2023 season. Zappe led the offense to three touchdowns in the first half before the unit slowed down and stopped scoring in the final two quarters.
Belichick was asked why the team didn’t bench Mac Jones to start Zappe earlier in the season.
“Bailey played earlier in the year,” he said on WEEI. “He played in the preseason — played a lot in preseason. We made the decision when we thought it was the right time to make it.”
Even after Thursday’s win, Zappe has completed just 55.4% of his passes this season for 539 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. His 27.2 QBR ranks lower than all 30 qualified quarterbacks in Pro Football Reference’s rankings this season.
Zappe also struggled in the preseason, leading the Patriots to waive him during roster cuts after he was 30-of-51 for 253 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions with six sacks and three fumbles. Zappe said last week that he had offers to join other teams before signing to the Patriots’ practice squad before the season and joining the 53-man roster ahead of Week 1. Amazon Prime reporter Kaylee Hartung passed along on Thursday night’s broadcast that Zappe had expressed confidence to his former college offensive coordinator Zach Kittley after being cut that he could still beat out Jones for the starting role.
The Patriots were 2-9 with Jones as a starter. His 36.7 QBR ranks 26th out of those 30 qualified QBs. Jones was benched in four games before getting what appears to be a permanent demotion.
Belichick was asked if there would be a quarterback competition this week.
“We’ll talk about that,” he said. “We don’t practice until Wednesday.”
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