Bailey Zappe Shares New Detail About Patriots’ QB Plan Vs. Bears

Bailey Zappe knew he’d see action in Monday night’s New England Patriots game. But he didn’t know when.

The Patriots’ rookie quarterback said Tuesday on WEEI’s “Merloni, Fauria & Mego” that he was not aware he’d be replacing starter Mac Jones after three offensive series against the Chicago Bears.

“No, sir,” Zappe said one day after the Patriots’ 33-14 loss at Gillette Stadium. “That’s kind of up to Coach (Bill) Belichick. That’s his decision. I kind of prepared the whole week like I had the last seven weeks to have the mentality that I was one play away. Whenever that was, I was going to be ready, and I kind of just prepared that way this past week, taking every rep like a game rep.”

Zappe entered the game after the Patriots went three-and-out on their first two drive and Jones threw an ill-advised interception on their third. Head coach Bill Belichick said Jones’ removal was not for performance reasons, nor for an injury he suffered during the game, but did say Jones’ health following his high ankle sprain was “a factor” in the team’s choice to play both QBs.

Jones said after the game that Belichick had informed him of the plan to use him and Zappe against Chicago. Zappe said the same Tuesday.

“Coach Belichick did a great job of communicating to both me and Mac,” the fourth-round draft pick said on WEEI. “I think both me and Mac, what we want best is we want to win. We want what’s best for the team. The past several weeks, I’ve been preparing like I have — like I was one play away — and I’m going to continue to do that the rest of the year.”

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Belichick told ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters at halftime that both signal-callers would play in the second half. But after sticking with Zappe to start the third quarter, he ultimately opted to leave Jones on the bench because the score had gotten “out of hand.”

“That’s a question for Bill Belichick, of course,” Zappe said. “I was going in whenever he told me and whenever my number was called. I was open to whatever he decided.”

Jones went 3-for-6 for 13 yards with an interception in limited action, adding three rushes for 24 yards. Zappe led touchdown drives on his first two series but struggled to move the ball after halftime and turned the ball over three times.

The rookie sidestepped a question about how the late-week practice reps had been distributed between him and Jones, who’d missed the previous three games.

“Coach Belichick doesn’t really want us to go into the details about that stuff,” Zappe said on WEEI. “But what I can say is the reps that I did get, I treated them like game reps. And the reps where I wasn’t in there physically, when I was standing behind Mac or whoever it was, I took those mental reps just like I was in there physically. … There’s some things that of course I need to fix and need to get better at looking back to (Monday night), and I plan on working on those things this week and getting better.”

Asked after the game when he learned Jones would be starting, Zappe replied: “About when y’all did.”

Belichick has yet to reveal which QB will start this Sunday against the New York Jets.