There has been a lot of conversation about Bailey Zappe potentially unseating Mac Jones as the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots, especially after Jones was benched in favor of Zappe at one point last season. But so far, it sure looks like Jones is leading the way during practice.
According to a report from Mark Daniels of Masslive.com, Mac Jones has been impressive during practice, asserting himself as the team’s starter over Zappe.
“Overall, it was an impressive day for Jones as the Patriots offense looks to rebound after last year’s tough season. Jones went 10-for-12 in 11-on-11s on Monday. The only two incomplete passes he threw, in team drills, on this day happened when Uche ran into Mike Gesicki to deflect one pass and when Deatrich Wise batted down another at the line of scrimmage,” Daniels reported.
“Jones was red hot to start the practice session. He went a perfect 21-for-21 in 7-on-7 drills. That started the stretch where he hit 25-straight completions before Uche’s deflection. On his 31 passes, Jones hit 10 different players. His three favorite targets were Mike Gesicki (six receptions), Hunter Henry (five) and J.J. Taylor (five). Kendrick Bourne, Ty Montgomery and Rhamondre Stevenson were next with three catches each.”
While Zappe had a strong performance in practice as well, going 10-of-13 in full-team drills and finished 9-of-12 in 7-on-7 drills, it’s clear that he is behind Jones in the rotation and Jones has done nothing to lose his grip on the starting job.
It’s a pretty major update to the team’s quarterback situation, and the NFL world had plenty to say about it on Twitter.
What a low bar for the once prominent organization. It’s newsworthy that the hand selected, starting QB is outplaying his 4th round backup playing in his second year. https://t.co/i1un7CUBFA
— scottaferguson1.bsky.social (@scottaferguson1) June 13, 2023
Surprisingly what can happened with an actual OC https://t.co/JCoXRGJ3lC
— Forever Trill🇳🇬 🇰🇪 🇧🇸 (@mccauley318) June 13, 2023
"This Mac Jones guy is pretty good when his OC isn't a defensive coach!"
— Faddy (@FaddyBoomaLardy) June 13, 2023
You’d hope so
— Andy (@AndySGallagher) June 13, 2023
To quote John Madden, when a team says they have two starting Quarterbacks then actually don’t have one starting Quarterback. And you can bet the ranch Bill Belichick sadly understands.
— Mike Barbacovi (@MikeBarbacovi) June 13, 2023
It’s not like Montana is outplaying Steve Young. One mediocre QB is outplaying another mediocre QB.
— BuffaloScott19 (@BuffaloScott19) June 13, 2023
It’s looking like Jones will once again be the team’s starter this season.
