During his time as the New England Patriots starting quarterback, Bailey Zappe praised the efforts of his teammates for helping him get acclimated as he made the massive jump from Western Kentucky to the NFL.
That included injured signal-caller Mac Jones lending a helping hand to the rookie as well.
Jones, who seems to be trending toward playing in Monday's matchup against the Chicago Bears, broke his silence and talked to reporters for the first time Friday since a day after sustaining a high ankle sprain in a Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Jones explained why it was important for him to be part of the support system for Zappe.
"I think I've been in these types of situations before -- whether that's in college or not," Jones said while speaking to reporters from his locker on Friday. "If you're in, you're in, and you want to have everyone helping you. He's done a good job of stepping up, of being a young guy. And I've always had really good mentors and things like that, so that's my plan."
How much Jones' mentorship aided Zappe is obviously unknown, but it sure couldn't have hurt. In three appearances with the Patriots this season -- two of which were starts -- Zappe completed 72.9% of passes for 596 yards to go along with four touchdowns and one interception.
Zappe certainly was appreciative of the second-year quarterback dispensing some knowledge his way.
"We meet almost every day with the quarterbacks," Zappe said back on Oct. 11 while appearing on WEEI's "Merloni, Fauria & Mego" show, as transcribed by MassLive’s Chris Mason. "We go through the install that day or the game plan of the week and I ask (Jones) a lot of questions, because he has a whole year underneath his belt so he knows a lot more than I do. So, being able to pick his brain about certain things — certain plays, certain coverages — he always has a great answer for me. He's been helping me a lot."
Zappe might return to his backup role that he had to start the season come Monday, but during his brief press availability, Jones didn't give an indication on if he would actually be playing against the Bears.
At least it doesn't seem like Jones has any bitterness toward Zappe, despite some trying to drum up a quarterback controversy.
