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The New England Patriots were forced to throw rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe straight into the fire after Brian Hoyer was forced to leave the game with a head injury in Week 4. Zappe answered the call and nearly led New England to victory.
Zappe threw for 99 yards and also notched his first career NFL touchdown with a beautiful pass to DeVante Parker. In a pressure-packed situation at Lambeau Field, the quarterback did a fine job of leading the Patriots.
“It was good. I thought he competed well,” head coach Bill Belichick said.
For Zappe, getting out on the field was a dream come true.
“Of course, it was exciting at first. It was a dream come true to play in an NFL game,” Zappe said. “It’s obviously not the outcome we wanted at all. First, I give credit to my teammates. They kept me calm, they kept me…getting the nerves out of me. They kept me in my space; cool, calm and collected. And everyone played well tonight. O-line played well. We ran the ball well. It really just comes down to me. I need to make more plays and the outcome’s different.”
What Is the Reaction to Zappe’s Performance?
Zappe clearly caught the attention of the NFL world. Heavy Sports’ Matt Lombardo said that the rookie quarterback managed New England’s offense “nearly flawlessly” and named Zappe his Week 4 Breakout Star.
“It doesn’t get much more impressive than seeing a fourth-round rookie quarterback forced into action as the third-string quarterback, go toe-to-toe with Aaron Rodgers, the Packers, and the ghosts of Lambeau Field,” Lombardo wrote.
“But, that’s what Bailey Zappe did on Sunday, taking Rodgers’ Packers to the brink — and to overtime — while completing 10-of-15 passes for 99 yards with 1 touchdown for a 107.4 passer rating. Zappe managed the Patriots’ offense nearly flawlessly, and nearly pulled off a monumental upset.”
Zappe’s teammates were also impressed with his performance.
“I wanna just give a huge shoutout to Zappe, man,” Patriots outside linebacker Matthew Judon said. “The way he stepped up in the game — I don’t even believe he took that many reps with the [starters] — the way he played and the poise he had. That’s amazing for a rookie.”
David Andrews also praised the quarterback.
“Proud of the way he competed, man,” Andrews said. “Went really quickly from probably thinking he wasn’t playing much this year to being thrown in the mix in a pretty hostile environment against a really good defense. Thought he led us well. Thought he did a really good job. Obviously some things we gotta work on. But proud of the way he competed.”
Is Week 5 an Important Week for the Patriots?
New England could start to get reinforcements this week as some players continue to recover from injuries. Tyquan Thornton is eligible to return from Injured Reserve this week and begin practicing.
Whenever Thornton is able to return, he will give whoever is under center yet another passing option as the Patriots try to compete for a playoff spot in 2022.