‘He’s pretty consistent’: Bill Belichick still won’t say who Patriots’ starting QB will be, but praises Bailey Zappe

Of course, none of us really know just how well Zappe is performing behind closed doors. But Zappe was consistent in his two starts last season. Zappe completed over 70 percent of his passes in both games, throwing for 497 total yards with three touchdowns and an interception over those games. His play was good enough to lead the Patriots to wins in both of his starts as well.

This season, Zappe’s play has been consistent, but in a bad way. He completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes in each of his first three outings this season, replacing a struggling Mac Jones each time.

Zappe played a little better against the Giants last Sunday. He completed 9 of 14 passes but only threw for 54 yards and had an interception.

Still, Zappe’s ability to lead the Patriots to a touchdown on his first drive of the 10-7 loss marked a major improvement from what Mac Jones provided in the previous games. The Patriots didn’t reach the end zone in their game against the Colts in Week 10 and failed to score at all in the first half of the Giants game. The Patriots have only scored nine points in the last eight quarters Jones has played as well.

Jones’s fourth benching of the season in Sunday’s game has sparked questions on whether he’s taken his final snaps with the Patriots. That question likely won’t be answered for some time, but could Zappe help his future standing with the organization if he plays well in the event that he starts moving forward?

Belichick, whose return to Foxborough next season doesn’t seem to be guaranteed, wouldn’t say.

“I haven’t really thought about 2024,” Belichick said. “I’m trying to get ready for the Chargers here and get our team ready to go.”

Zappe isn’t the only quarterback who’s seen an increased workload in practice this week. Malik Cunningham was the other quarterback to receive reps during the portion of practice open to the media earlier this week, suggesting that the practice squad quarterback/wide receiver could be the primary backup quarterback against the Chargers.

Cunningham has only seen action in one game in his career to this point, being used as a gadget player in the Patriots’ Week 6 loss to the Raiders. Belichick wouldn’t tip his hand on whether Cunningham will play his second career game on Sunday.

“Again, some of it just depends on what the circumstances are for the individual week,” Belichick said. “But players on the practice squad can be elevated, or they cannot be elevated. So, we’ll see how that goes.”

Even though Belichick won’t reveal anything about who’ll play at quarterback on Sunday, he feels good about how the week has gone.

“I think the preparation’s been good,” he said. “We’ll see what happens on Sunday. That’s always the test. But they put in the time, preparation. I think everybody’s trying to do that across the board, every position, and we’ll see how it goes on Sunday.”