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New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick isn’t ready to publicly name either Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe his starting quarterback for Sunday’s game at the rival New York Jets.
“We’ll see how it goes here today,” Belichick said about his quarterback situation ahead of Wednesday’s practice, per Zack Cox of NESN.
Belichick repeatedly used similar phrases and words throughout October and last week as Jones worked to recover from the ankle injury that had kept him out of action since Week 3. The No. 15 pick of the 2021 NFL Draft returned to the lineup and earned the start against the Chicago Bears on Monday night but was booed off the field and replaced by Zappe following an interception that may or may not have been Jones’ fault.
Belichick later insisted he always planned to play Jones and Zappe during the “Monday Night Football” clash.
“Look, we’re not doing anything here,” Belichick added when asked Wednesday if he could utilize both Jones and Zappe versus the Jets as he did against the Bears. “We haven’t practiced. We’re going to go out, and we’re going to see how it goes today. All right?”
Belichick was directly asked if Jones and Zappe are competing against each other for the right to start at MetLife Stadium in Week 8.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Belichick responded.
Zappe guided the Patriots to wins in back-to-back starts before Jones’ return, but the rookie and fourth-round draft selection largely came back down to earth against Chicago. In total, Zappe completed 14-of-22 passes for 185 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the 33-14 loss that dropped the Patriots to 3-4 ahead of their matchup at the 5-2 Jets.
“We’re just getting ready for the Jets,” Belichick said when pressed about the order of the signal-callers on his depth chart. History suggests he’ll offer little to no additional information about the subject before Friday at the absolute earliest.
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