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FOXBOROUGH – For the third straight week, there's a sense of uncertainty on who'll be the Patriots' starting quarterback. Mac Jones suffered a high ankle sprain at the end of the Week 3 loss to the Ravens and hasn't played since though was on the practice field in each of the last two weeks.
After Brian Hoyer went down with a concussion early in Week 4, Bailey Zappe has taken all the Patriots' snaps at quarterback, providing a steady hand in the overtime loss to the Packers before leading New England to a win in Week 5.
Jones has been back on the practice field again this week. While he was limited in the Patriots' first two practices, he appeared to be moving better compared to the last two weeks.
Patriots tight end Hunter Henry knows just how much Mac Jones wants to be back out on the field, relating the quarterback's injury to how he's felt when he's missed time due to injury in the past.
QB Mac Jones, who was limited in Wednesday’s practice, is once again present for the start of Thursday’s session. His level of participation will be specified by the team later in the day. pic.twitter.com/vUuKKzsubT
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 13, 2022
“He's a competitor, man. We're all competitors,” Henry said. “Anytime you get away from this game, it's tough. He's itching. I don't know when the last time he's been hurt. Whenever the game gets taken away from you, it's always tough to watch from afar. I know he's itching and clawing to get back for sure.”
While the Patriots wait and see if Mac Jones will be ready to go on Sunday against the Browns, they've been happy with Zappe. The fourth-round rookie gave them reason to in his first career start, completing 17 of 21 passes for 188 yards with a touchdown and an interception, leading New England to a scoring drive on six of its nine possessions.
Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson has also been impressed with how Zappe's handled it all.
“Bailey's just like all of our other quarterbacks. I feel like he's really mature,” Stevenson said. “He's willing to learn and he is learning. He's getting better every single day.”
Zappe wasn't the only player on offense to be thrown into the spotlight recently. Starting running back Damien Harris went down with a hamstring injury early in the Week 5 win, putting Stevenson in a spot where he had to shoulder all the burden out of the backfield.
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Henry was impressed by both Zappe and Stevenson not just in Week 5, but also by how they've performed so far this season.
“I mean, two young guys that have just risen to the challenge and have done really well,” Henry said. “They're continuing to work every single day to get better and trying to learn from older guys and ask questions. They're doing a great job. I'm happy to have them on our side.”
Bailey Zappe delivers a DART for his second TD as a Patriot 👀 (via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/IxCvag8l4D
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) October 9, 2022
Henry also had a bit more reason to be happy on Sunday, too. He had his best game of the season, at least receiving-wise, catching four passes for 54 yards in the win. Henry didn't read too much into the performance, though.
“I guess the ball kind of found me in a way, that kind of goes hand-in-hand with it,” Henry said. “I felt like I was executing a lot of things in the passing game, just getting open. I think the ball just had to come my way and that's how it went.”
As the wear and tear of the season continues beyond the Mac Jones injury, the Patriots must continue to live by the “next man up” mantra. Stevenson believes the team is up for the task.
“Just on this team, everybody, even practice squad players, we all prepare like we're playing anyway,” Stevenson said. “Just things like what happened last week with Damien and with Mac, so just always being ready to step up and being ready to play.”
