Bailey Zappe ‘well positioned’ to be the No. 2 quarterback on Sunday
The Patriots haven’t officially named who will be Mac Jones’ back up on Sunday against the Eagles.
“Bailey Zappe is well positioned to be the No. 2 for Sunday's season opener,” reporter ESPN’s Mike Reiss in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“It wouldn't be a surprise if Zappe is signed to the 53-man roster (not just elevated from the practice squad on a 1-game basis),” added Reiss.
The recently acquired Panthers quarterback Matt Corral was listed as questionable for undisclosed reasons on the Patriots injury report on Friday.
The Patriots waived Zappe in a surprise move on cutdown day, leaving Jones as the only quarterback on the roster. New England later claimed Corral off waivers.
Zappe’s play this preseason was underwhelming but despite that he was expected to serve as Jones’ backup.
Zappe showed out a lackluster performance during the team’s final preseason game against the Titans. Generally when a player plays deep into the final preseason contest, their roster hopes are slim.
The 2022 fourth-round pick out of Western Kentucky played in three preseason games and was 30-of-51 for 247 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. He was also sacked six times.
Following being waived, Zappe was signed to the Patriots practice squad. He’s been competing the last few weeks with Corral and Malik Cunningham for the No. 2 spot on the team depth chart behind Jones.
On Friday afternoon, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was non-committal as to who the backup for Sunday will be.
“That’s a decision we’ll have to finalize here today,” Belichick said to reporters, including MassLive’s Mark Daniels. “I think (Corral)’s a consideration. Bailey certainly has the advantage on experience and time in the system and all that. So we’ll see how that all plays out. We have a couple different options there. So we’ll see how that goes, try to make the best one.”
If New England wants Zappe for Sunday, they have two options, sign him off the practice squad and activate him on the 53-man roster. The other is to elevate him to the roster as the emergency quarterback.
Teams are only allowed two elevations per week, the team could ultimately waive Corral and sign Zappe versus waste a move on a backup quarterback.
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