Patriots Reporter Has Interesting Read On Mac Jones-Bailey Zappe Relationship

Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe are Patriots teammates, but they might not be good friends.

That’s the way Paul Perillo is leaning when it comes to the rapport between New England’s top two quarterbacks. The Patriots.com editor has been able to watch the two together since Zappe arrived in Foxboro, Mass., last year, and he shared his assessment of their relationship on a recent episode of 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Mazz.”

“I don’t think it’s a great one,” Perillo said. “I think sometimes we overrate these things and state them a little too strong. But I have watched a little bit of the interaction and it doesn’t seem like they’re really overly friendly on the field, on the practice field. I have noticed when they’re asked specific questions about their relationship, the answers from both sides are always in generalities — about the quarterback room, about the team.

“I don’t know if that’s — I don’t think Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo were doing a whole lot of stuff while they were playing together. I think they’ve since become more friendly. I don’t know if it’s a huge issue. I do think it is something to watch. It’s kind of comical. When you listen to some of the answers, it’s kind of funny.”

All of these evaluations can be easily explained. There’s a natural tension that comes with competition, which is what Jones and Zappe find themselves in any time they share the field. And as long as Bill Belichick has been in New England, it’s clearly been an objective for players to put the team first and stiff-arm personal topics.

As Perillo mentioned, it’s probably not a big deal if Zappe and Jones aren’t best buddies. Their internal competition probably will make the Patriots better, and at the end of the day, that’s all anyone in New England’s locker room should care about.