Another week, another uncertain quarterback situation for the Patriots as they prepare for their first primetime matchup at home against the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
With an extra day to prepare for the Bears, the Patriots won’t hit the practice field for the first time this week until Thursday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, while the first injury report of the week will wait until Thursday evening since the game is on Monday night.
“We’re not practicing today. We’re going to get a jump on the Bears on some meetings and film work and things like that. Then we’ll practice tomorrow, so we’ll give you the injury report tomorrow, let you know how things are then, but really there’s nothing to talk about today,” head coach Bill Belichick told reporters on Wednesday morning.
After landing on the injury report as limited throughout the week due to his high-ankle sprain, second-year QB Mac Jones made the trip to Cleveland but was inactive for the third-straight game. Although there are rumblings that Jones is close to returning, rookie Bailey Zappe has also improved each week and was excellent in a 38-15 win over the Browns in Week 6.
The buzz about Zappe potentially supplanting Jones as the starter is coming from external sources, but it’s impossible to deny how well Zappe played in Cleveland.
Although Jones’s status is still unknown, the fourth-round pick out of Western Kentucky is sticking to the same routine he has relied on all season regardless of his place on the depth chart.
“As far as preparation, nothing is going to change. I’m going to keep doing the same thing I’ve been doing over the last seven weeks now,” Zappe said on Wednesday. “We get an extra day to get onto the Bears, just this week working on some things we saw on the film fundamentals-wise at practice, but other than that, nothing is going to change at all.”
With the door opening for Zappe due to Jones’s injury, the Pats first-year quarterback is focused on taking advantage of an opportunity to…
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