Bill Belichick got exactly what he wanted from rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe in a dominating 29-0 win over the Detroit Lions yesterday. But the New England Patriots head coach would not answer the obvious question that followed.
Appearing on the Greg Hill Show, Belichick was asked if he could envision Zappe replacing incumbent starter Mac Jones on the depth chart. Belichick immediately dismissed the question, refusing to get into “hypotheticals.”
“Yeah, I’m not going to get into a lot of hypotheticals on all the different things that might or might not happen and all that,” Belichick said, via NESN. “That’s, to me, a waste of time. I’m not going to sit around here and dream up scenarios and all that. We’ll take things as they come and go from there… Obviously, Mac wasn’t active (Sunday), so it wasn’t any part of any decision (Sunday).”
Zappe completed 81-percent of his passes for 188 yards and one touchdown with one interception in the win over the Lions. Not bad for a first NFL start.
Bailey Zappe is already playing pretty much the same kind of football that Mac Jones played last year when the then-rookie quarterback made the Pro Bowl: High-percentage, short and medium completions that extend drives while keeping the ball safe.
It remains to be seen how long Mac Jones will be out with his injury. He could be back this week, or be out several more weeks.
For the moment though, Bailey Zappe has the job – but it’s not his job to lose.