Patriots OC addresses possible Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe competition

As has been widely reported throughout training camp, it appears there's no real competition between New England Patriots quarterbacks Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe this summer. 

"Certainly, Mac gets most of the reps with the 1s," Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien told reporters during a Friday videoconference session, per Zack Cox of NESN. "You’re at practice; you see that. But we have a lot of different guys rotating in and out of the lineup. Bailey gets most of the reps with the 2s — you can see that."

It was thought throughout the spring that Zappe could receive a legitimate chance to compete with Jones for the starting job after head coach Bill Belichick refused to commit to the latter as his QB1 back in January. While Belichick somewhat unsurprisingly hasn't publicly revealed his official depth chart ahead of the preseason opener against the Houston Texans next Thursday, Jones has served as the team's clear starter during practices and media obligations. 

"It’s about (Friday night’s) practice," O’Brien continued while speaking about the club's quarterback situation. "It’s about (Saturday), their day (off), and then Sunday’s practice, and who is on a day-to-day basis performing at a high level at every position. Then coach Belichick, at the end of the day, he’ll put the lineup out there and we’ll go to work." 

Both Jones and O’Brien have repeatedly mentioned players receiving "fresh starts" after the offense struggled last season working under then-assistants Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. On Friday, O’Brien noted that he's "really, really enjoyed coaching" the 2021 first-round draft pick. 

The Patriots must decide about the fifth-year option attached to Jones' rookie contract next spring, so there's little for the franchise to gain in going through a for-show quarterback battle if the plan all along is to use the upcoming campaign to evaluate what the 24-year-old is and isn't at the highest level. 

Theoretically, Zappe can still win the starting job until Belichick says otherwise, but it seems Jones won't lose the gig before the games begin to matter in September.