FOXBORO, Mass. -- The Patriots hope Bailey Zappe is nothing more than a clipboard-holder this season. But the fourth-round rookie is seeing plenty of action in training camp.
With veteran backup Brian Hoyer missing five of New England's first eight camp practices and sitting out 11-on-11 drills in two others, Zappe has taken on a larger-than-expected workload in his first NFL summer.
The Western Kentucky product has been far from perfect, but head coach Bill Belichick is encouraged by the growth he's shown thus far.
"He's making progress every day," Belichick said before Thursday's practice. "Every day's a learning day for him. Every day's a good day -- he does some things better, then we put some new things in. Sometimes that's a process, depending on what it is and how familiar he is with it and how comfortable he is with it.
"But he's gotten better every day. Hopefully, that'll continue. Sometimes it levels off, sometimes it drops off, sometimes it climbs higher, so we'll just have to see. But he's good to work with."
Zappe has piloted the Patriots' second-team offense for most of camp and, with the team wanting to avoid wearing out Mac Jones, has even outrepped New England's second-year starter in some practices. That was the case Tuesday, when Zappe took 23 reps in 11-on-11s to Jones' 17, and again Wednesday, when Zappe logged 31 11-on-11 reps and went 12-for-16 passing to Jones' 23 and 10-for-12.
That pendulum swung back toward Jones on Thursday.
With the Patriots back in full pads after a day in helmets and shells, Jones went 15-for-20 in 11-on-11s while Zappe saw less playing time and struggled, completing just 1 of 5 passes in nine total reps. But the fact New England chose to give those reps to Zappe rather than Hoyer, who only threw in 7-on-7 and positional drills in his return from a reported illness, was notable.
The Patriots aren't likely to cut Hoyer after giving the 36-year-old $3 million guaranteed this offseason, and he provides legitimate value as a veteran mentor to his much younger position mates, especially with Josh McDaniels gone and Joe Judge now coaching New England's QBs. But they're giving Zappe ample opportunities to prove himself as he prepares for his first pro season.
The undersized 23-year-old has shown scattershot accuracy and inconsistent ball placement and must improve his touch on shorter passes. But he's also delivered several impressive downfield dimes, with his corner-of-the-end-zone touchdown pass to Ty Montgomery on Day 3 standing out as one of the best throws of camp to date.
Belichick said he's looking forward to seeing how Zappe performs in a live-contact setting, as hitting quarterbacks in practice is a no-no. The Patriots will open the preseason next Thursday night against the New York Giants at Gillette Stadium.
"He works hard, and he's smart, and he has a good skill set and, I would say, good anticipation in the passing game," Belichick said. "But we'll see what happens when we start playing and he gets hit a couple times and all that. There's things that we just can't see out here (in practice) that will be a factor. But (he's) going in the right direction."
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