FOXBOROUGH – The situation in the New England Patriots' locker room has a chance to be very unusual in the coming weeks.

Starting quarterback Mac Jones' Week 3 injury paved the way for Bailey Zappe to play in recent weeks. After going 1-2 with Jones as a starter through the first three games, the Patriots have won the two games Zappe has started and nearly won the first game he played in when he replaced an injured Brian Hoyer.

Moreover, Zappe has put up better numbers than Jones so far this season, too. The fourth-round rookie has thrown for 596 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception with a 111.4 passer rating, the best among all quarterbacks in the league who have a minimum of 70 passing attempts. Jones, on the other hand, has thrown for 786 yards, two touchdowns, and five interceptions with a 76.2 passer rating.

While many are speculating as to whether or not the Patriots will have a big decision to make when Jones is fully healthy from his ankle sprain, their leaders are playing it cool.

Patriots safety Devin McCourty said the team is shielding the outside noise amid the current run with Zappe at quarterback.

“You see Mac start the year, you see Zappe come in, we win two games, so it creates like the whole story and everything,” McCourty said. “But I think overall in the locker room, guys are just appreciating having a good time. I think that’s been the fun part of my time in New England. Everything can be going on on the outside, but inside that locker room, everybody’s kinda geared up, getting ready to go.”

McCourty believes that the Patriots' recent stretch, which includes a 29-0 win over the Detroit Lions and a 38-15 win over the Cleveland Browns, is more about players just doing their job.

“This team does a really good job of playing hard and playing with effort, but actually executing leads to wins,” McCourty said. “So I think that’s been more of the focus than, ‘How is it with Zappe? How is it with Mac?’ I think guys have been really locked in.”

As the outside noise of people questioning whether or not Jones should get his job back when he returns could lead to him rushing back, Patriots center David Andrews has one piece of advice: Take your time.

“I think, one is, ‘Be as ready as you are and make sure you’re where you need to be,'” Andrews said Wednesday. “I haven’t had a lot of injuries where I’ve kind of missed time during the season – the one thing I had was kind of a sickness thing and was out for a couple of weeks. Other than that, it’s kinda been a whole year off [kind of injury].

“But I think, as a player, I know if I was in that position, I’d just want to be as healthy as I could be. That’s tough because you’re a competitor, you want to go play. So, we’ll see. He’ll make that decision, and obviously our medical staff.”

Jones certainly seems to be progressing since he suffered the injury late in the Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. His status on the final injury report has improved in each of the last three games. The last time we saw him on the practice field, he looked a bit more mobile than he did in the prior two weeks.

Still, Jones was ruled out 90 minutes prior to the Week 6 win over the Browns. It has been reported that Jones is expected to return for Monday night's Week 7 matchup against the Chicago Bears.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he wouldn't entertain any hypothetical situations on how the team will handle the decision at quarterback for the fourth straight week. He also has confidence in Jones' ability to assess how he's handling his injury.

“I have total trust in Mac and our conversations over the last couple of years, but we’ll see how it goes. I don't know,” Belichick said Wednesday. “We’re not practicing today, we’re going to get a jump on the Bears on some meetings and film work and things like that. Then we’ll practice tomorrow, so we’ll give you the injury report tomorrow, let you know how things are then, but really there’s nothing to talk about today.”

As Belichick mentioned, the Patriots will have their first of three practices ahead of their game against the Bears on Thursday.