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With New England Patriots rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe showing what he is capable of in the NFL, his agent decided to call out the haters who doubted his client.
Ever since Zappe got the chance to show his skills, he hasn’t looked back. In three games he has thrown for 596 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, Zappe dominated. He threw for over 300 yards and 2 touchdowns in the win against the Browns.
Given how well Zappe has performed, those close to him are taking a victory lap as they have never doubted his performance. That includes his agent, Nicole Lynn.
“Trying to restrain myself from texting every team who told me Bailey Zappe couldn’t play in the NFL,” Lynn tweeted after the Week 6 win.
Zappe was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft.
What Do the Patriots Think of Zappe?
Patriots players and coaches have said great things about Zappe. Bill Belichick continued to praise Zappe during the Week 6 postgame press conference.
“Yeah, I mean again, he learns every day, whether it’s practice, or meetings, or game experiences,” the head coach said. “He has pretty good instincts, but there is a lot for him to learn. There are things today that he learned from and he was able to take advantage of and make a couple plays. He had the opportunity. Again, it’s all performance. It’s not turning the ball over or a strip sack. It’s a good thing.”
Tight end Jonnu Smith also talked about how he has seen the rookie quarterback improve.
“He is making a ton of improvements, looks comfortable and settled down trying to figure it out,” Smith said. “He knows he has a lot to improve on. For him to have that mindset, he has made a lot of strides in his game. Hats off to him these past couple weeks, coming in doing a helluva job. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Center David Andrews added that Zappe has done everything expected of him so far.
“A lot of poise,” Andrews said. “A lot of composure. Had a lot of fun out there. I think he does a really good job for us and is doing what is asked of him.”
Has Zappe Won the Starting Job?
The rookie quarterback has performed well, and fans and pundits have started to wonder if he has done enough to earn the starting job.
Belichick was asked about Jones getting the starting job once he returns, and the head coach would not commit to giving Jones back the keys to the offense once he is healthy enough to play.
“We’ll see how that process is,” Belichick said in a video conference Monday. “Mac still wasn’t able to play [Sunday]. So we’ll continue to evaluate him and see how he’s doing physically.”
It’s safe to say that Zappe has proven those teams that Lynn mentioned wrong. Now the question is just how far can the rookie go.