It’s all Zappening.
Patriots rookie Bailey Zappe replaced Mac Jones at quarterback for the team’s first offensive drive in the second quarter of their “Monday Night Football” clash against the Bears.
Entering with New England trailing 10-0, and Jones and the Patriots offense struggling, it took Zappe just four plays to find the end zone and cut the deficit to 10-7. Completions to Jonnu Smith and Rhamondre Stevenson and a Damien Harris rush brought the Patriots into Bears’ territory. Zappe then completed a 30-yard pass to Jakobi Meyers for a touchdown.
Zappe, 23, was back at it just moments later, as Myles Barrett’s interception off Justin Fields handed the ball right back to the Patriots offense at midfield. Zappe promptly tossed a 43-yard bomb to DeVante Parker to bring the Patriots to the 7-yard line before Stevenson found the end zone on a rush to give New England a 14-10 lead at Gillette Stadium.
In just over five minutes after entering the game, Zappe led the Patriots to 14 points and turned the contest on its head.
The Patriots had reportedly been planning to use both Jones and Zappe in some capacity, as Jones was making his return from a sprained ankle that kept him sidelined since Week 3. Zappe’s performances in place of the team’s first-round pick last year, however, have prompted newfound quarterback controversy in New England.
Zappe, whom the Patriots selected in the fourth round out of Western Kentucky, won both his starts at quarterback and completed 72.9 percent of his passes for 596 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception in charge of the offense entering Monday. He had a 111.4 passer rating in that fill-in duty.
He came out for a third straight series to close the second half, after the Bears scored to regain the lead. That’s when reality hit, as the Bears’ 23 unanswered points promptly lifted them to a 33-14 win. Zappe threw two interceptions in the second half, and the Patriots failed to score again in the defeat.
Jones never re-entered the game.
Jones, whom the team selected with the No. 15 overall pick out of Alabama last year, had completed just three of six passes for 13 yards and an interception before Zappe entered. Jones similarly struggled in three games before getting injured, throwing five interceptions to just two touchdowns as the team got off to a 1-2 start.