GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Bailey Zappe didn’t even dress for the first three games of his Patriots career. But after Mac Jones went down last week and Brian Hoyer was sidelined by the concussion spotter in the first quarter, New England had to turn to the fourth-round pick.
Zappe, who broke NCAA records for passing yards and touchdowns at Western Kentucky came into the season as more of a long-term project, but Hoyer was ruled out early in the second quarter making Zappe the only available quarterback.
The Patriots’ likely emergency quarterback Jakobi Meyers is also out with injury.
Zappe took the majority of New England’s preseason snaps. He completed 45 of 71 passes for 462 yards in the three games. He threw one touchdown and was intercepted three times.
Zappe rose up draft boards after an outstanding senior season at Western Kentucky. It came after four seasons at Houston Baptist, an FCS program. Zappe broke Joe Burrow’s record for touchdown passes (62) and threw for 5,967 yards for the Hilltoppers. Pre-draft scouting reports questioned his physical tools but praised his football IQ.
Zappe played in a quick-strike, air-raid scheme with Western Kentucky, but wasn’t too concerned about his skillset translating to the next level. Zappe said he was asked about it a lot by teams. So what did he do when he got those questions?
“I smile, like I am right now,” Zappe said at NFL scouting combine. “It was kind of a misconception about the Air Raid and the Air Raid tree we ran with (offensive coordinator Zach) Kittley. A lot of stuff that a lot of people knew in the NFL and other offenses in college. We did a lot pure progression stuff, lot of opportunities to check in and out of plays, read defenses’ pure progressions. Some of the stuff that will carry over to the NFL.”
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