Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images The sophomore quarterback has now started back-to-back games in place of Mac Jones. The New England Patriots offense did not play a spotless game on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coming off a shutout loss, however, the 21-18 victory was a definitive step in the right direction — both for the unit and its quarterback. Starting his second straight game in place of a benched Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe completed 19 of 28 passes for 240 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. And while that performance did not lead to Bill Belichick publicly announcing the sophomore QB as the starter for this week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Patriots’ head coach likes what he has seen so far. “Bailey’s been pretty consistent,” Belichick told WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show on Monday morning. “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. He’s done a good job of managing the team and taking care of the ball.” Thursday’s game was Zappe’s sixth appearance this season, and by far his best. The young passer seemed comfortable working under pressure, and showed some good chemistry with his pass catchers — starting with tight end Hunter Henry, whom he twice hit for scores. Belichick still sees room for improvement with Zappe and the entire operation alike. That said, he believes the former fourth-round draft pick is on a positive path due to his consistent level of performance and preparatory work. “Bailey works hard, tries to correct his mistakes, tries to learn each week and learn each day,” he said. “So, I’m sure he’ll continue to do that. But good preparation and attention to details certainly puts him on the right path to better performance in the games. That’s what we’re all here for.” In his two games as a starter — meaning he also was prepared as such leading up to those contests — Zappe has completed 60.4 percent of his throws for 381 yards as well as those three touchdowns and that one pick. The Patriots lost his first start 6-0 to the Los Angeles Chargers before beating the Steelers in Week 14. His performance seemingly was enough to keep him in the top spot for the foreseeable future over Jones or any of the team’s other quarterbacks, practice squadders Will Grier and Malik Cunningham. Why, then, has the team waited so long for Zappe to replace the former starter, whose struggles have contributed to the Patriots starting the season 2-9? For Belichick, it was all a question of timing. “Bailey played earlier in the year. He played in preseason — played a lot in preseason,” he said. “We made the decision when we thought it was the right time to make it.” Source: https://www.patspulpit.com/2023/12/11/2 ... uarterback
