What the Patriots said about ‘surprising’ decision to cut Bailey Zappe and go all-in with Mac Jones

Patriots

“Obviously, Mac is our quarterback. We’ve got a lot of belief in him.”

Mac Jones is the last man standing in the Patriots quarterback room, for now.

The Patriots cut all three of the players who were behind Jones on the depth chart this week. Bailey Zappe, Malik Cunningham, and Trace McSorley are not on the 53-man roster at the moment.

Talk about a vote of confidence for a third-year quarterback who is entering the most pivotal season of his young career.

“Obviously, Mac is our quarterback. We’ve got a lot of belief in him,” Patriots special teams standout Matthew Slater said. “We support him. I’m sure, and I don’t know much, but I’m sure there will be another quarterback at some point and time. You don’t usually go into a game with one quarterback.

“But, Mac’s done a tremendous job of working and improving in all facets on the field and off the field,” Slater continued. “We all have a great deal of confidence in him moving forward.”

Regaining trust has been a theme for Jones this offseason as he attempts to bounce back from a lackluster performance in 2022. He’s talked about it openly and often during training camp. Devin McCourty said back in March that there were some Patriots players who preferred Zappe to be the starting quarterback as Jones struggled.

But, there is at least a portion of the locker room who never lost faith in Jones.

“I never really lost trust in him,” offensive lineman Cole Strange said. “I don’t know [why], but that’s just my dude. I think that just comes with being on a team with a guy, I guess for me.”

Slater described the decision to cut Zappe as “surprising.” He said being with the Patriots has taught him to expect the unexpected, and that shocking moves are a part of life in the NFL.

“I know [Zappe) will land on his feet and do a great job,” Slater said. “And I also trust that coach [Belichick] is doing what’s in the best interest of the football team and putting us in the best position to have success. So, you know, mixed emotions on that. I love Bailey, he knows how I feel about him. He’s one of my favorite kids of all time.”

Tight-end Mike Gesicki, who stayed at Jones’s house during part of the offseason, said that he has a “really high” confidence level playing with Jones.

“He makes it fun to go out there and play,” Gesicki said. “We’re always joking around, but when it’s time to lock in he’s leading the offense and has done a great job.

“He throws a really catchable ball, has really good timing, and understands concepts, spacing and routes,” Gesicki continued. “He understands when guys are getting ready to break based off of leverage and all that kind of stuff. It’s been awesome going through training camp with him.”

Offensive tackle Calvin Anderson, who returned to practice on Tuesday after missing virtually all of training camp, said that he’s looking forward to protecting Jones.

“We all love Mac,” Anderson said. “It’s an important year for him … The things that are above my pay grade, we trust the people that are in the positions to handle that. But, we know Mac is poised to have a good season and he has our support.”