Quarterback controversy? Let’s call it a “Quarterback cornucopia”.
Before continuing, we’re not going to go overboard with this. The 2022 PatriotsThey are not the San Francisco 49ersSteve Young, a future Hall of Fame quarterback, was ready to take over for Joe Montana when he was injured. But the best — and dare I say, healthiest — way to mull this Mac Jones-Bailey Zappe state of affairs is to begin the discussion by focusing on the events of Sunday, Oct. 2, at Lambeau Field in beautiful Green Bay, Wis.
The situation was already dire for the Patriots: With Jones hobbled by the high ankle sprain he suffered a week earlier, Bill Belichick turned to backup quarterback/assistant-coach-without-the-title Brian Hoyer. What happened then? On New England’s second possession of the game, the Packers’ Rashan GaryHoyer was sacked for a loss 8 and the veteran quarterback was taken to the locker room with what turned to be a concussion.
And Thus began life in the NFL for Zappe, the Patriots’ fourth-round selection in this spring’s draft. He had last played for Western Kentucky, and before that Houston Baptist, and before that Victoria East High School, and I don’t think it’s disrespecting these three fine programs to suggest that none of them are known as quarterback factories.
Go Deeper
Buckley: Bailey Zappe (Patriots quarterback, and the pride of Victoria in Texas)
I invite those of you who were there that day or who listened to the Bob Socci – Scott Zolak radio broadcast as you return from an afternoon of apple picking to reflect on what you thought when Zappe entered the field. You should also consider the Twitter roar of doom and gloom.
Zappe was being chased by New England 8 players in his end zone, his first NFL pass attempt. Rhamondre StevensonThe 10th floor is open, with Zappe on the move. Zappe threw, but was off. New England punted.
And yet the kid played well, didn’t he? He wasn’t great and the Pats didn’t win, but what everybody saw was a ton of poise and not a smidge of jitters. Zappe has backed the Patriots to their second consecutive victory in quarterback. In his first career start, he was 17-for-21 for 188 yards and a touchdown in the Pats’ 29-0 win over the Detroit Lions. A week later, he was even better. He completed 24 of 32 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns. New England is rolling. A 38-15 win over the Cleveland Browns.
These were not high-quality opponents that the Patriots faced, as was pointed out over 10,000 times. I can’t remember the last time I heard the words “dregs” tossed around so much. They were, however, not quality opponents. Zappe’s quality efforts were undoubtedly quality. He is literally doing his homework at the back of the schoolbus.
Go Deeper
Buckley: It’s not like there’s any quarterback competition with the Patriots…
The day is your starting point for this discussion Tom BradyHe smiled at the cameras and held his new, crisp glasses up to them Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey, then you’re not thrilled with where the Pats are, which is 3-3 and sitting at the bottom of the AFC East with the Miami Dolphins. But, sorry, that’s a despondent world to be living in, to have been fattened up by six Super Bowl championships and to expect more of them to be overnighted by a new quarterback.
But if a Patriots fan’s starting point is the Green Bay game, which is where it should be, this has been awesome. It’s been entertaining. It’s been fun.
It is the understanding and it has always been. Mac Jones will be quarterbacking the Patriots as soon as it is determined that he’s game ready. Surely there will be plenty of cackling if Jones returns to the field and his first pass attempt is a (choose one) dying quail, air ball, groundball to shortstop or a big, fat interception, but that’s all later on. At the moment, the Pats have a waiting-for-the-doctor’s-go-ahead Jones, and they have a first-year backup coming off a 309-yard passing game in Zappe.
Bailey Zappe Live Press Conference, 10/19 https://t.co/MLWbUQr1f2
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 19, 2022
Belichick’s and the Patriots’ draft-day grocery shopping has been much criticized, but the record will demonstrate that they know value when they point the cart down to the quarterbacks aisle. Matt Cassel (7th round, 2005) was one of their selections. Jimmy Garoppolo(second round 2014) Jacoby Brissett (third round, 2016). They signed an undrafted Hoyer as their third round pick in 2009. Although none of them are Steve Young, they all went on to become NFL starters. There have been some Rohan Daveys and Kliff Kingsburys, but the Pats have done a good job picking quarterbacks, considering that the goal was to provide backup insurance for Tom Brady who was selected in the sixth round of 2000. Garoppolo could be the only one who could possibly succeed Brady in New England.
Nobody knows how the Mac Jones-Bailey Zappe mess will end. Maybe we’ll have a for-real quarterback debate next summer when Belichick empties out the bag of footballs on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium. Maybe we’ll see a trade in which the Pats part with some quarterback depth to fill a need elsewhere. (OK, so sending Garoppolo to the 49ers for a second-round pick — which the Pats traded for other draft picks, and on and on — wasn’t exactly the second coming of the CowboysThe Herschel Walker sent a faded message to the VikingsFor a busload full of draft picks and players.
But I digress. In a season in which the Patriots are not likely to win a Super Bowl — we do agree on this, I assume — the Jones-Zappe discussion is a whole lot more fun than talking about whatever Tom Brady is talking about these days down in Tampa.
(Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
