CLEVELAND — Turns out, Zappe Hour lasts so much longer than 60 minutes, one sport and even one week.
Patriots rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe performed one other strikingly spectacular sport Sunday, main a 38-15 highway win over the Browns in simply his second NFL begin. He went 24-of-34 for 309 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Zappe’s play even stunned some teammates, who heaped reward on the previous fourth-round decide post-game.
Below is a sampling of what the Patriots needed to say about their younger quarterback.
RB Rhamondre Stevenson
“He is a great player. He is doing his best out there. I think everybody can see that he is completing passes.”
TE Jonnu Smith
“He is making a ton of improvements, looks comfortable and settled down trying to figure it out. He knows he has a lot to improve on. For him to have that mindset, he has made a lot of strides in his game. Hats off to him these past couple weeks, coming in doing a helluva job. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
“He is still a rookie so we won’t say Zappe is the G.O.A.T, but he definitely has impressed. He looks more comfortable.”
C David Andrews
“A lot of poise. A lot of composure. Had a lot of fun out there. I think he does a really good job for us and is doing what is asked of him.”
ST Matthew Slater
“Really proud of what he has done. You rewind a month ago, and nobody is talking about him being a contributor for our team. That is the National Football League, you never know when your moment is going to come. Your hope is that you prepare enough and are able to take advantage of it. I think that man is doing just that.”
Bill Belichick
“Yeah, I mean again, he learns everyday, whether it’s practice, or meetings, or game experiences. He has pretty good instincts, but there is a lot for him to learn. There are things today that he learned from and he was able to take advantage of and make a couple plays. He had the opportunity. Again, it’s all performance. It’s not turning the ball over or a strip sack. It’s a good thing. We just had trouble obviously with (Browns DE) Myles Garrett. We tried to double him as much as we could and he still got us.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com