Getty Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett
By just about all accounts, the upcoming 2024 training camp appears to be an exercise in futility for Patriots veteran Bailey Zappe, the presumed odd man out of the New England quarterback carousel. The thinking is simple. The Patriots just signed Jacoby Brissett as a free agent, so his spot is safe. They used the No. 3 pick in the draft on the ever-so-safe Drake Maye. And they took a sixth-round flier on strong-armed Joe Milton.
That’s three quarterbacks, and there is no room for four. Even with Zappe having cobbled together eight starts in the past two seasons with the Patriots, it appears as though the team is ready to move on from him. Mac Jones has already been moved. It’s perhaps a bit strange that Zappe has not.
But don’t tell that to Brissett, the nine-year NFL veteran who began his career as a Patriot in 2016, before playing for four other franchises, then re-signing with New England in March. Brissett expects Zappe to keep himself in the mix in training camp—not just for a roster spot but for the QB1 role.
Patriots QB Room: ‘Everybody Is Talking’
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Brissett acknowledged that the presumption is that the Patriots have a quarterback competition underway between himself and Maye. But, he said, that is not the mindset of those in the quarterback room.
Brissett told the gathered reporters: “That’s the thing, everybody in the (quarterback) room is talking. Me, Drake, and Joe and you got a guy that has started in the NFL and won games. (Zappe) is not a slouch. The good thing about our room is, honestly everybody wants to be the guy and everybody’s competing to be the guy. And that’s what you want …”
The consensus is that Brissett is the early leader as the Patriots lunge toward the start of training camp. This week, ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler declared Brissett the “favorite” to be the Week 1 starter, saying on SportsCenter:
“I talked to a source with the team who said: ‘Look, we’re not going to hold Drake Maye back when he’s ready to play, but we do recognize that he needs some work.’ That this is somebody who needs to get acclimated to the pro game, that could take some time.
“So they’re going to be prepared to play Jacoby Brissett, the veteran, to at least start the season.”
Jacoby Brissett Says Everyone Wants to Be QB1
Certainly, Zappe is the one quarterback on the Patriots roster who has some NFL snaps behind him for 2023. He took 413 in all, far more than Brissett. The problem was that Zappe’s numbers when he did play were rough, and he wrapped the year with a Pro Football Focus grade of 52.2, which was third-worst among all 38 of the graded quarterbacks last season.
Brissett took 46 snaps. He wants to change that by winning the QB1 job—just as Zappe and Milton want to.
“If none of us wanted to play, then our room would be messed up. Like, we would be in bad hands in this organization and I think everybody understands that and everybody wants to play. I know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t wanna play and didn’t think I could do the job myself. So, I think (Zappe) thinks that of himself too, and he should,” Brissett said.
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