It is official. According to Jeff Howe of the Athletic, Bailey Zappe will start on Sunday for the Patriots.The news is not a surprise as Zappe has gotten the bulk of the reps at practice this week. Zappe replaces Mac Jones who has struggled mightily of late, forcing the Patriots to make the change.

For the season, Zappe has completed 19 of 39 passes for 158 yards and two interceptions. He has not played well in spot duty but he did lead the Patriots on their only scoring drive last week in a 10-7 loss to the Giants.

When asked what has seen from Zappe at practice, Bill Belichick talked about Zappe’s consistency.

“He’s pretty consistent, about what it’s been all year. He’s pretty even-keeled, not a lot of roller
coaster with him.”

The Patriots have also installed and practiced a package of plays for quarterback/wide receiver Malik Cunningham. Cunningham could potentially see some action as a change of pace quarterback/athlete. Cunningham also had a package going into the Raiders game earlier this season but the Patriots used him sparingly in that game.

As for Mac Jones, according to Howe he is not expected to play unless something unforeseen happens. Whether he plays again or not will depend on the success and health of Zappe and the other quarterbacks. The Patriots did re-sign Will Grier to their practice squad earlier this week so he is in the fold as well.

Zappe started two games last season as a rookie and went 2-0. He went completed 65-of-92 passes for 781 yards and five touchdown passes. Now he has an opportunity to be the permanent starter the rest of this season and be in the mix beyond this season if he plays well.

Belichick believes that Zappe’s experience should help him this week.

“He played some last year. There were some times where he was competitive, a little more experience
this year. I mean, we talked about that in training camp. There’s growth in players from year one to year
two, year two to year three and sometimes year three to year four. So, we have young quarterbacks and
I’d say they’re both on a growth pattern.”