Bill O’Brien Busy Onboarding Matt Corral, Still High On Bailey Zappe

Patriots coaches aren’t talking as if Bailey Zappe now is little more than a quarterbacking afterthought.

Zappe, who captivated New England fans in 2022, was waived last week ahead of roster cutdowns. The second-year quarterback later re-signed to the Patriots practice squad, but watched his team sign former Carolina Panthers QB Matt Corral, a third-round pick in 2022, to the 53-man roster.

When asked about Zappe on Monday, Bill Belichick said he still believes the 2022 fourth-round pick is a “good, young, developing player.” And Bill O’Brien sang a similar tune Tuesday morning.

“Bailey’s a much-improved player,” the Patriots offensive coordinator said in a video call. “I think every year is different when it comes to Bill (Belichick’s) decisions with (personnel executive) Matt Groh, relative to what the 53-man roster can look like. Those are conversations that I’m not really a part of. I know Bailey has improved. I’m really happy that he’s back with us.

O’Brien added: “Bailey’s a young player, as a lot of these guys are. When you talk about a guy only going into his second year, there’s a lot of improvement that’s been made, and there’s a good future. And so, it’s really good we have Bailey back.”

O’Brien also was asked about Corral, who was signed by the Patriots last Thursday.

“Matt has been here morning, noon and night,” he said of the Ole Miss product. “And he’s doing a good job of learning. And we just need to keep progressing him. You can’t throw everything at him at once because that’s a lot of information.

“So, we try to do a good job of giving them the things that are important for him right now. And it’s a team effort, and he’s done a good job of just coming in here and trying to learn and soak it up.”

New England will kick off its regular season late Sunday afternoon when it hosts the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium. We still have no idea whether Zappe or Corral will back up Mac Jones, but Zappe feels like the more logical option given his knowledge of the system.

One thing we do know: The Patriots can’t take advantage of the NFL’s new rule for emergency quarterbacks.