FOXBOROUGH- Bailey Zappe is finally starting to settle in as the Patriots starting quarterback. It took him a couple of weeks to adjust, but Zappe is now comfortable with being the man under center for the Patriots.

When asked when he started feeling comfortable with the offensive scheme and what he was doing, Zappe says it was training camp when he started feeling comfortable with the scheme. He also admits that it has been a process.

“I would say in training camp, I felt like I started to get a good sense of the system. I mean it is not the same the verbiage and some of the things are of course different than what we did last year. But, of course,
the more weeks that I was in the game planning and the games and now playing in the games, of
course, getting comfortable with him and how he likes to call plays, its helped a lot. And the more
practices and of course the more games I play with him calling it and game planning with him, I kind of
get a sense of how he likes to do things and attack things. I think both of us are only going to get more
and more comfortable with each other.”

Zappe credits O’Brien and assistant quarterbacks coach Evan Rothstein with getting him ready to play on a weekly basis. O’Brien’s  attention to detail and his focus on fundamentals has especially been beneficial for Zappe, especially when it comes to certain areas of his game like managing the pocket. Zappe says that area of his game is a focus every day in practice.

“Yeah, I mean we usually do that stuff every day before practice. We get out there 15, 20 minutes
before, have the bags and he kind of walks out there and tells us what drills he wants us to do. But were
pretty routine about it. We do it every day. The more you do it, the more it becomes like second nature
to you. So, when you get on the field and you’re not really worried about it or thinking about it. It kind of just comes natural, and thats what you want. You don’t want to be back there worried about the rush. You want to be able to have your eyes downfield. So, that’s really helped a lot, doing that stuff before practice.”

Fundamentals aside, Zappe acknowledged that playing in an NFL offense is vastly different than the one he played in at Western Kentucky. Going from playing in the Air Raid offense to playing in the Patriots system has taken some getting used to.

”In college while I played, I was in the air raid. So, it’s totally opposite. I think we ran the ball like ten times a game. I threw it about 50. So, that’s one of the biggest differences, and then just the different concepts. Of course, everybody kind of runs the same routes, but just a different way of putting two concepts together and how you read it, of course that’s different. And then, play calling is a little bit different, a lot longer plays. We’d have like ace 95 in college. I mean, that was a play, and they don’t have that any more in the NFL. So, I think that’s another thing that’s different. But I enjoy it. It’s fun.” 

Zappe’s level of comfort in the Patriots system is paying off for him and the team. The second year quarterback has stabilized the Patriots offense and allowed the team to be more competitive. Despite that, he knows the Patriots face a stiff challenge this week in Buffalo.

“They’re well coached from top to bottom, from the D-line to linebackers to the secondary group. They’re well coached. They understand that system. A lot of those guys have been there for a while now. And then you look at some of those guys, like [Jordan] Poyer and Micah Hyde. Those guys have been playing for 11 years. So, a lot of those guys have a lot of experience and a lot of games under their belts, where they understand how to disguise, how not to disguise, and kind of hide some of the things that they’re doing. So, it’s going to be a tough challenge for us to see what they’re doing versus us and just execute what we’re trying to do.”

With the Bills needing a win to stay in the playoffs, the Patriots will have their hands full. However, as we have seen the past three weeks, they are not phased by playing on the road and a big reason for that is Zappe and his unflappable approach. He isn’t phased by playing in a tough road environment.

“It’s fun. That’s exactly what football is all about. You want to go in those environments. You want to go in and play some tough teams. Winning of course makes it a lot better. Of course, this is going to be another great environment to play in. Like I said these two teams of course don’t like each other. It’s a great rivalry so just got to go in there and play our brand of football.”

When you are 4-11, it is all about finding the positives in a bad season. Zappe has been a positive in recent weeks and that bodes for this season and possibly the future.