The New England Patriots’ head coach, Bill Belichick, is someone who prefers keeping his cards close to his chest. And he is adopting the same strategy regarding the “starting quarterback” question in the Patriots. With questions around their designated starter, Mac Jones’ fitness, and overall performance under the microscope, many are expecting a change in the QB roster. But Belichick seems to be in no hurry to address such a concern.

But analysts are not going to wait to talk about what they think is an imminent change. Jones’ week 3 ankle injury resulted in the rookie backup Bailey Zappe playing as the starter, and he has been phenomenal in his last 4 games. At the very least, he’s been good enough to foster talks about him passing Jones on the depth chart. But NFL insider Ian Rapoport may have some slightly differing ideas.

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Speaking on the ‘Pat McAfee Show’, Rapoport says, “I believe Mac Jones is the starter, but he had a couple of rough games and tried to do a little too much. Belichick is never going to get ahead of himself, so he’s never going to address it until he has to. He wants to judge the whole product. But let’s say Bailey Zappe goes out and wins this week and looks really good. It’s gonna get interesting. I think Mac Jones is the starter, but it’s not a slam dunk.”

Bailey Zappe can replace Mac Jones as QB#1?

Mac Jones has not been very convincing in the first three games of the season. His mistake-riddled performance came to a halt only when he sustained an ankle injury in the week 3 game against the Baltimore Ravens. His sole win against the Pittsburgh Steelers was no relief, as the Patriots only managed to scrape through to victory.

As opposed to Jones‘ performance, Zappe has been on a high ever since he came on to replace the QB1 against the Baltimore Ravens. He was especially crucial in the shutdown win against the Detroit Lions. And not to mention, the way he ran the offense against the Cleveland Browns last Sunday was phenomenal. In his first-ever game with 300 yards passing, he finished with 24/34 for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns.

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Quarterback rivalries are not an uncommon thing for either the Patriots or Bill Belichick. Back in 2001, Tom Brady deposed the then-starter Drew Bledsoe similarly. Although Brady’s presence significantly changed the offensive capabilities of the Patriots, it hasn’t been on such a level with Zappe for Belichick to outright declare him the #1 on the depth chart.

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Jones’ injury is healing, and eventually, he will come back fit to play. He knows, and so does Belichick, that mistakes will not be tolerated anymore. Jones watched from the sidelines as Zappe commanded the offense against the Browns, and so he understands the threat he now faces as a starter. Belichick will not shy away from picking Zappe over Jones if the latter is not able to put up a matching, if not better, performance. The battle for the top spot at the Patriots is shaping up quite nicely for fans to be hyped about.