Patriots 'QB Controversy' for Bailey Zappe vs. Mac Jones, Hints Insider 'Rap Sheet'

The Patriots will face the Cleveland Browns this Sunday. Win and Belichick's guys would take on the look of a team heading in the right direction with a jump to 3-3.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick certainly isn't going to come right now and use the words "QB controversy.''

And respected NFL insider Ian Rapoport is too smart to go there with that terminology just yet as well.

At the same time, "Rap Sheet'' isn't completely shooting down the possibility of such a thing, given the quarterback situation unfolding in New England.

"I believe Mac Jones is the starter, but he had a couple of rough games and tried to do a little too much," Rapoport said, the NFL Network reporter appearing on The Pat McAfee Show. "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 ...

"But,'' continued Rapoport, "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."

"I think Mac Jone is the starter but if Bailey Zappe looks really good & wins this week.. it's gonna get interesting in New England" ~@RapSheet#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/9q6PfpW5O7

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 13, 2022

Second-year quarterback Jones has been out since Week 3 as he works through an ankle injury. Enter fourth-round rookie signal-caller Bailey Zappe, who has been filling in for him, and doing it surprisingly well, completing 75 percent of his passes for 287 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

And what of Rap Sheet's "what if'' scenario? The Patriots will face the Cleveland Browns this Sunday. Win and Belichick's guys would take on the look of a team heading in the right direction with a jump to 3-3.

And ... win and that could complicate matters in New England at the QB position, "controversy'' or whatever we choose to call it.

"We'll see what it looks like today and go from there," Belichick said of the issue.

And he's right. We'll see.

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