• So what are we supposed to make of Bailey Zappe helping drive the Patriots to a 21–18 win over the Steelers on Thursday night in Pittsburgh?
The main thing I could ascertain from people close to the team in the immediate aftermath was this—a spark. Everyone I talked to affirmed that, yes, there was an energy, an urgency and a rhythm to the way the offense played Thursday, and there even were spots Sunday against the Chargers where the offense looked good in ways it didn’t under Mac Jones.
The logical conclusion: Jones’s 2023 is effectively over.
The coaches could more easily sell Zappe to the other players in the locker room mostly because of how he practiced. As Jones’s in-game gaffes mounted, the same sorts of missteps would routinely show up in practice, to the point where defensive teammates would call them out.
Things changed, if subtly, last week, when Jones was demoted and moved to the scout team (playing the role of Justin Herbert) in the days leading up to the game against the Chargers. Now, Zappe wasn’t overly impressive. In fact, one coach called his performance “decent.” But what he did do that Jones didn’t was run the offense as designed, which put his teammates in a better spot to make plays. Meanwhile, Jones’s issues carried over to his scout-team work.
So if you’re Bill Belichick, it’d be hard to sell Jones as the team’s quarterback. Which is why, as long as Zappe stays competent, it’ll probably be his show for the team’s final four games.
And that raises the bigger-picture question of whether we’ve seen the last of Jones as a Patriot. He’s due $2.8 million fully guaranteed in 2024, with offsets in the deal, and a $2.2 dead-cap charge waiting if they move on from him, which means moving on wouldn’t exactly be a huge problem for whomever is making that call for New England.
That last part, of course, will be a factor. It’s getting tougher to see Belichick or even Jerod Mayo bringing Jones back for another run, given all the history here. But if someone new comes in with designs on reviving the first-round pick, such as Mike McDaniel did with Jones’s ex-teammate Tua Tagovailoa, maybe he could be salvaged as a Patriot—an idea that, as Thursday unfolded, seemed to become less and less realistic.
