On Tuesday, the New England Patriots shockingly waived quarterbacks Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham, leaving Bill Belichick with just one signal-caller on the roster, that, of course, being Mac Jones.

But come Wednesday, that was no longer the case as both Zappe and Cunningham are back with the Patriots, just in a different capacity. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Zappe cleared waivers early Wednesday and will return to New England as a member of the practice squad.

Literally five minutes later, Schefter reported that Cunningham will do the same.

In Zappe's case, his release came as quite a shock, even to several Patriots players, as he entered training camp as Jones' top backup. Taken in the fourth round of last year's draft with the 137th overall pick, the Texas native made two starts for New England a season ago after Jones went down with an injury.

And Zappe certainly performed well in those two starts, leading the Patriots to victories over the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns, completing 74.5% of his passes for 497 yards with three touchdowns against just one interception in those wins.

In four appearances overall, Bailey Zappe completed 70.7% of his passes for 781 yards with five TDs and three picks. Many believed he could actually challenge Jones for the starting spot this season. But Belichick had obviously seen enough after a rough preseason in which Zappe connected on just 58.8% of his throws and took six sacks.

As for Malik Cunningham, who went unselected during the 2023 NFL Draft, the Louisville product was never expected to genuinely compete for QB1 honors, and many believed he wouldn't make the main roster anyway. Cunningham attempted just six passes in preseason action, completing three of them for just 19 yards.