Patriots
“I’ve got to throw better balls.”
Quarterback Bailey Zappe made his first start of the season for the Patriots on Sunday in some less-than-ideal circumstances, as New England was shut out at home for the second time this season on a rainy day in Foxborough. The Patriots had multiple chances to piece together scoring drives, but never found the end zone.
“There were some good things, some bad things,” Zappe said. “We had a chance there at the end. Defense played great. Offense, that starts with me. I’ve got to make plays, toward the end I’ve got to throw better balls, I’ve got to make balls catchable especially in conditions like this. It starts with me on the offensive side with getting things going.”
After weeks of speculation about a change at quarterback, with Zappe entering the game in the second half for a benched Mac Jones on multiple occasions, Zappe finally had the chance to prepare expecting to start this week even if the Patriots didn’t make it official as practices were held.
“It was a little bit different of course, but like we always say here, you’ve got to be ready no matter what the circumstances are,” Zappe said. “Whether you’re coming in third quarter or you’re starting the game, whatever the coaches tell you to do you’ve got to be ready.”
The rain started well before kickoff and never relented as neither team really got its passing game going. Zappe finished 13 of 25 for 141 yards without an interception or a touchdown.
“I mean look, both teams got to play through it,” Zappe said of the conditions. “Yeah, it’s not ideal, but you’ve got to deal with it. Like I said, it starts with me. A wet ball, it’s hard to catch, I’ve got to throw better balls. No excuses, I’ve just got to play better.”
Zappe largely limited his mistakes in the passing game after throwing bad interceptions in his previous outings, but several of New England’s most promising drives ended with the quarterback on the turf, sacked out of field goal range on multiple occasions. Some were related to breakdowns in protection, but others saw Zappe biting off more than he could chew.
“That’s totally on me,” Zappe said. “I’ve got to understand where we’re at on the field, I have to understand that we have points, and I have to understand when plays are done, there’s nobody open, I’ve just got to throw the ball away. I just tried to do too much and that’s on me.”
It’s another frustrating loss for the Patriots, who have scored just 13 points over the last three games. The defense has done its part, holding the last three opponents to just 26 combined points, but it hasn’t been enough.
“I would say that given the circumstances that we’re in, there’s no division in our team,” Zappe said. “Everybody comes to work every day, everybody pushes each other, defense pushes offense, offense pushes defense, and as long as we stay that we these last few games, things will go in our favor.
“Our defense is playing phenomenal. Like I’ve said multiple times, that starts with me as the quarterback on the offensive side. I’ve got to do better, I’ve got to get us down there, I’ve got to get us opportunities to score points. Taking sacks and all those things isn’t doing a good job of doing that.”
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