Bailey Zappe Breaks Silence on Pats QB Competition

The New England Patriots overhauled their quarterback room this offseason, trading Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars, signing Jacoby Brissett in free agency, and selecting Drake Maye and Joe Milton III in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The only quarterback from last season’s roster that New England kept was Bailey Zappe, who started the final six games of the 2023 campaign. Zappe completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 1,114 yards, six touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

Those aren't glamorous stats from Zappe, but it was better than what the Patriots got from Jones last season, who struggled to find his groove.

Heading into training camp, Zappe understands he has an uphill climb to make New England’s 53-man roster, especially with the new faces. The 25-year-old quarterback has seen his reps go down to start camp but isn't worried about the quantity.

"The quality is what you make of it. The quantity is all the same," Zappe said (h/t MassLive’s Mark Daniels). “I don’t really get into – ‘Oh, he got one more than I did’ or anything like that. That’s left to the coaches. It’s based off the quality of those reps.”

Zappe is right in that it’s not about quantity, but more about what you do with those limited reps in camp. With the Patriots having two rookie quarterbacks, Zappe won’t get the necessary reps he received last season behind Jones.

That said, Zappe will have to impress in the preseason and joint practices to show he’s good enough to get picked up by another team this summer. 

The former fourth-round pick doesn’t have the skillset and arm talent to beat out Milton for the QB3 spot. But he has starting experience, which another team will value when cuts roll around at the end of training camp.

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