Zappe gets a look; several starters sit
FOXBOROUGH — As anticipated, Mac Jones was one of several starters who didn’t play in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Texans, with the quarterback yielding to backup Bailey Zappe.
Zappe was 12-of-14 passing for 79 yards, with the highlight coming on a 27-yard pass play to wide receiver Tyquan Thornton on the second offensive series of the night. The second-year quarterback ended up playing 27 snaps, and led the Patriots on one scoring drive, which was capped by a 44yard field goal from Nick Folk.
In the end, he was on the field for 16 dropbacks and 11 runs, departing midway through the third quarter with New England trailing, 10-3.
“We’ll take a look at it,” Bill
Belichick said of Zappe’s performance. “He didn’t turn the ball over. I thought he had some good throws in some tough situations with some pressures.”
For Zappe, the highlight of his night was the 27-yarder to Thornton, a pass play deep down the Houston sideline that gave the flagging New England offense a boost.
“The play that was called, he had a MOR, a mandatory release vertical go route,” Zappe said. “They just so happened to cloud that side. For us, it’s like a whole shot. That’s kind of my [mindset] when I was going in. I was waiting for the corner to squeeze down on the out. I was able to put it up there and give Tyquan a chance to go up there and get it. He made a heck of a play. It was nice to see him go up there and get it. That’s props to him for that.”
“I just went up — it was a good pass from Zappe,” Thornton said. “I went up and high-pointed the ball. It’s something that I’ve been emphasizing, just making contested catches and coming down with big plays.”
Trace McSorley played most of the third quarter and into the fourth, ending up 1-of-3 passing for 4 yards. Malik Cunningham finished up at quarterback, providing a late spark with five carries for 34 yards and a touchdown.
For Zappe, it was a challenge for a few reasons, not the least of which was the fact the Patriots rested most of their players up front. Offensive linemen Bill Murray, Cole Strange, Mike Onwenu, and Calvin Anderson were not spotted in uniform at the start of the game. In addition, veteran linemen David Andrews and Trent Brown were spotted on the sideline, but got the night off.
And as they have done most of the summer, the Patriots were forced to mix and match at the start of the game with a combination of veterans and journeymen. Up front, from left to right, it was Conor McDermott, Atonio Mafi, James Ferentz, Kody Russey, and Sidy Sow starting in front of Zappe. The quarterback was sacked twice over the first two-plus quarters, and the Patriots managed just 3 points, 6 yards rushing, and 67 yards passing in the first half.
Zappe and Belichick wouldn’t put the lack of offensive production on the shoulders of the offensive line, but the coach acknowledged that the situation up front didn’t “leave a lot of space” for the offense, particularly in the early going.
“We’re dealing with some injuries on the offensive line,’' Belichick said. “But the guys that were in there got some experience. But, yeah, it’s tough for the backs. It’s tough for the quarterback. We didn’t have a lot of space on the offense for the most part tonight.”
“Like every game, there’s good and bad,” said Zappe. “The good part about it is that it’s preseason, still. We’ll come in tomorrow and watch the film. We can learn from the bad and improve on the good. It’s not always as bad as you think and not always as good as you think when you go back and watch the film. That’s the good part about it; you get to come in tomorrow and get back to work.”
Ex-Patriots get shout-out
Houston coach DeMeco Ryans acknowledged former Patriots Chase Winovich and Dalton Keene for their work Thursday night. Winovich had a sack and Keene added a touchdown. “It was fun to see Chase make a play,” Ryans said. “I know he was fired up. He was excited to make a play, so it was fun to see him get the sack and Dalton to get the touchdown there. It was fun to see guys make plays.” . . . While the Patriots haven’t publicly announced their captains for 2023, only special teamer Matthew Slater represented the team for the coin toss . . . The Patriots honored the Boston Renegades, the champions of the Women’s Pro Football National Championship, as well as the New England Free Jacks, the Major League Rugby champions, on the field during a pregame ceremony . . . The Patriots handed out fresh numbers to members of their rookie class before Thursday’s game, with some of the highlights being cornerback Christian Gonzalez (going from No. 50 to 19), defensive end Keion White (from 51 to 99), wide receiver Kayshon Boutte (58 to 80), wide receiver Demario Douglas (60 to 81), and Cunningham (67 to 16). In addition, new linebacker Joe GilesHarris was assigned No. 53 . . . There were scouts from several teams in attendance, including the Jets, Steelers, Cardinals, Falcons, Ravens, Dolphins, and Eagles. In addition, the USFL
(New Jersey) and CFL (Saskatchewan) had representatives at Gillette.