Patriots Sign Emergency QB

The New England Patriots quarterback room could double for the walking wounded.

With starter Mac Jones expected to miss his second consecutive start and veteran Brian Hoyer still not participating at practice after suffering a concussion in the Week 4 loss at the Green Bay Packers, Bill Belichick and Co. are likely turning to rookie Bailey Zappe as their starter in Week 5 against the Detroit Lions.

Zappe performed well and nearly engineered a come-from-behind victory over the Packers before falling short in overtime. Who will be Zappe’s backup? More than likely, it’ll be a career-practice-squad guy Garrett Gilbert.

The Patriots brought Gilbert back for his third stint with the team this week as they anticipated the lack of depth at the game’s most important position.

Gilbert would only see action in an absolute emergency situation where Zappe was injured or unable to play for some reason. The next possible option would probably be wide receiver Jakobi Meyers who has missed the last two games with an injury.

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Garrett Gilbert’s Career

At one point, Gilbert was considered a can’t-miss, five-star prep recruit out of Texas back in 2009 after setting a number of high school passing records. Gilbert committed to play for Texas in college where he never quite lived up to his lofty potential.

He transferred to SMU where he had a tad more success, but he still failed to make a major impression with NFL teams. Gilbert was drafted in the sixth round by the St. Louis Rams in the 2014 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, he was among the final cuts before the beginning of the season but was brought on to the team’s practice squad.

Since his rookie season, Gilbert has bounced around to a number of teams spending most of his time on practice squads–including two stints with the Patriots before his current run.

Gilbert was on the Patriots’ practice squad when they defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. As far as regular season experience, Gilbert has seen game action with the Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, and Washington Commanders.

Gilbert has even started two games (one with the Cowboys and the other with the Commanders). While Gilbert’s numbers aren’t spectacular, he has been at least decent in the brief NFL action he’s seen.

In eight games, Gilbert has completed 43 of 75 passes for 477 yards. He has thrown for one TD and one interception with a 57.3 completion percentage. The 31-year-old’s chances of being a top-flight QB are over, but he can still fill a void for an NFL team that is ravaged by injuries as the Patriots are at this point in the season.

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Could Bailey Zappe Create a QB Controversy?

Zappe’s performance in his first NFL game was impressive. The rookie completed 10 of 15 passes for 99 yards and a TD pass to DeVante Parker. The scoring toss to Parker came on a play-action pass with excellent protection, but Zappe put excellent touch on the throw as he lobbed it into Parker’s hands.

Had the Patriots pulled off the upset on Sunday, the conversation about sticking with Zappe would be a little louder. As it is, it is tough to ignore the positive signs we saw from Zappe who is more mobile than Jones and has a more lively arm.

If Zappe comes out and leads the Patriots to a win over the Lions in Week 5–and the offense looks strong–you can bet the talk of a QB controversy will get louder.

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