the greg hill show: bill belichick joins the show following patriots 21-18 win vs. steelers
The Patriots had the weekend off following their 21-18 win vs. the Steelers on Thursday night and while quarterback Bailey Zappe was an integral part of New England’s first win since late October, Bill Belichick still won’t name him the team’s starting quarterback.
“I’m not announcing who’s doing what,” he told WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show on Monday when asked if Zappe did enough to retain the starting job. “I’m not doing that.”
Zappe finished Thursday’s victory against Pittsburgh completing 19 of 28 pass attempts for 240 yards and three touchdowns, and helped lead the Patriots’ to 21 first half points. While they failed to reach pay dirt in the final two frames, New England’s offense looked far more in-sync with Zappe at the helm, and turned the ball over just once on a tipped pass attempted for JuJu Smith-Schuster.
“Bailey's been pretty consistent,” Belichick told the show when asked about his quarterback’s performance. “For the most part, he's done a good job of taking care of the ball at the quarterback position. We haven't had a lot of negative plays... He's done a good job at managing the team, taking care of the ball… Bailey works hard and tries to correct his mistakes, tries to learn each week and learn each day. I’m sure he’ll continue to do that.”
So why didn’t New England make the change off of Mac Jones sooner?
“Bailey played earlier in the year,” Belichick explained. “He played in the preseason– he played a lot in the preseason. We made the decision when we thought it was the right time to make it.”
Belichick also spoke about his appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay at Saturday's Army-Navy game, Taylor Swift potentially being in Foxborough this weekend, and more on Monday’s edition of WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show. You can listen to the full interview here.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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