Last Monday during his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show, Boomer Esiason said he didn’t think there was any quarterback controversy in New England and that the Patriots remained Mac Jones’ team.
The CBS analyst and WFAN host wasn’t quite ready to completely change his mind this week, but he did acknowledge there’s a discussion to be had and heaped some high praise on Bailey Zappe after the rookie’s excellent performance in the Patriots’ 38-15 win over the Browns.
Zappe completed 24 of 34 passes for 309 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 118.4 passer rating.
“Why the hell not, man?,” Esiason said when asked if there was a QB controversy. “Nothing like, not many sports controversies like quarterback questions for local radio talk show hosts. We kind of love them.
“Look, say what you want, but Bailey Zappe played a fabulous game yesterday. … All Bailey Zappe is doing, a kid out of Western Kentucky University, is showing unbelievable poise, accuracy, and I cannot believe how he just looks so comfortable in the pocket.”
In three games (two starts), Zappe is now 51-of-70 (72.9%) for 596 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a 111.4 passer rating. In his three starts before getting injured, Jones was 64-of-97 (66.0%) for 786 yards, two touchdowns, five interceptions and a 76.2 passer rating.
Given multiple opportunities to declare Jones his starter once Jones is healthy, Bill Belichick has declined to do so, helping to fuel speculation that he may actually be considering sticking with Zappe. Esiason said that even if Belichick already knows he’ll be going back to Jones, this situation gives him a good opportunity to test Jones.
“This is the perfect coaching situation for Coach Belichick,” Esiason said. “He’ll make it tough on Mac Jones. He’s gonna want to see if he can handle this. Mac’s not oblivious to what’s being said out there or what’s being written or oblivious to what his eyes are showing him with what Bailey Zappe has done here the last two weeks, especially yesterday. I mean, throwing for over 300 yards, a couple touchdowns, looking like a quarterback who has been in the league for 10 years.”
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