“There was never true hope,” Devin McCourty shockingly reveals some Patriots players preferred Bailey Zappe over Mac Jones as the starting QB
QB Bailey Zappe started 2 games for the Patriots in his rookie year.
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Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe (Image via SI)
During the 2022 season, the Patriots fans briefly wanted a change in the quarterback after their rookie QB Bailey Zappe showed promising flashes. However, Zappe only started two games and had to go back to being a backup QB once Mac Jones recovered from his injury. As it turns out it wasn’t only the fans who were split between Jones and Zappe during that time.
According to the former Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty, there were also doubts in the Patriots’ locker room as to who should be the starting quarterback in New England. During a recent episode of the Greg Hill Show podcast, the recently retired Patriots DB admitted that some players in the locker room preferred Bailey Zappe over Mac Jones.
“I think player-wise there was enough trust that we’re going to put the best guy out there,” McCourty said on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show. “But the struggles on offense, I think there were some guys in the locker room that were like ‘Let’s go with [Bailey] Zappe.’ Or ‘No, Mac looked good today.’”
“It was just a back-and-forth, which to me, spoke more about what we had on offense than the quarterback. We never were solidified as an offensive group that guys had full confidence in anything we were doing. There was never true hope.”
Devin McCourty backs Mac Jones despite QB’s down year with the Patriots
After a solid rookie season, Mac Jones had a down year in his second season as the Patriots’ starting quarterback. During his first season, Jones threw for 3801 and 22 touchdowns which led to him receiving a Pro Bowl nod.
But during his second-year Jones only threw for 2997 yards and 14 touchdowns. Now, there might be a lot of reasons for this drastic loss in production but no one can deny that he had a down year. Despite that, Devin McCourty backs Mac Jones to be a good leader for the Patriots.
“I think Mac is a great kid and works his butt off,” said McCourty during his ceremony at the Patriots Hall of Fame. “He’s excited to be a leader; not just excited to play quarterback for the New England Patriots. He’s excited about leading men on that football field.”
The Patriots have added a couple of good offensive weapons in the free agency. Additionally, if they can get a true wide receiver number 1 in the upcoming NFL Draft, Jones might end up having a breakout season.
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Aravind Raj
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