Bill Belichick Talks about Bailey Zappe vs. Mac Jones Heading into Next Game

Is a real QB battle brewing in New England?

A day after Bailey Zappe led the New England Patriots to a second consecutive win by passing for 309 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-15 rout of the Browns, Bill Belichick was still not ready to formally address the possibility of a quarterback controversy. Reports surfaced last week that there is quiet friction between Mac Jones and Bill Belichick.  Belichick, however, was also unwilling to dismiss the possible existence of a competition between Zappe and Mac Jones, which is pretty telling. Belichick maintained a similar line as the previous week, noting that Jones, New England’s 2021 first-round pick and presumptive starter prior to his injury in Week 3, wasn’t on the field Sunday.

“We’ll see how that process is,” said Belichick of the quarterback decision heading into next week’s Monday night matchup with the Bears. “Mac still wasn’t able to play. So we’ll continue to evaluate him and see how he’s doing physically.”

Mac Jones remains out with ankle injury. And while he’s been able to practice to some extent, the 24-year-old has been inactive each of the last two Sundays.

During his appearance afterward on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” Belichick was asked if Jones will start if he’s healthy enough to play next week.

“That wasn’t an option yesterday,” Belichick replied, echoing his earlier response. “He wasn’t active for the game, so it was really no option to play him.”

Later in the interview, another version of the question was put to Belichick: Is Zappe competing for the starting quarterback job, or is it Jones’s whenever he returns without question?

“Look it’s every player’s job to be ready to go. That’s their job,” Belichick offered before adding a familiar refrain. “Mac wasn’t active yesterday so there’s nothing to really talk about.”

We know Belichick isn’t going to worry about anyone’s feelings, he’s going to do what’s best for his team, this should get pretty interesting when Mac is officially ready to start again.

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