Bailey Zappe

Bailey Zappe was signed to the 53-man roster from the practice squad on September 9, 2023 ... Originally drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round (137th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft ... Released by New England (8/29/23) ... Signed by New England to the practice squad on (8/31/23).

CAREER TRANSACTIONS

Bailey Zappe was signed to the 53-man roster from the practice squad on September 9, 2023 ... Originally drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round (137th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft ... Released by New England (8/29/23) ... Signed by New England to the practice squad on (8/31/23).

SEASONAL REVIEWS

2023 (10/6)

• Began the year on the practice squad but was signed to the 53-man roster before the season opener vs. Philadelphia (9/10).
• Served as the backup quarterback and took over as the starting quarterback in Week 13 vs. L.A. Chargers on Dec. 3.
• Played in 10 games with six starts and completed 127-of-212 passes for 1,272 yards with 6 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He added 83 rushing yards on 17 attempts and 1 rushing touchdown.
• Entered the game after the Patriots were down in a 38-3 loss at Dallas (10/1) with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter. His first pass attempt resulted in an 11-yard gain to WR DeVante Parker. Finished the game with 57 yards and completing 4-of-9 passes.
• Entered the game after the Patriots were down in a 34-0 loss vs. New Orleans (10/8) with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Finished the game with 22 yards and completed 3-of-9 passes.
• Was inactive at Las Vegas (10/15) as the third quarterback.
• Saw action late in the fourth quarter vs. Indianapolis (11/12) with just under two minutes remaining and the Patriots trailing 10-6.
• Replaced QB Mac Jones at the start of the second half at New York Giants (11/26).
• Set a career high with three touchdown passes at Pittsburgh (12/7). His previous best was two touchdowns at Cleveland on Oct. 16, 2022. Zappe had an 11-yard touchdown pass to RB Ezekiel Elliott in the first quarter and an 8-yard touchdown pass and a 24-yard touchdown pass to TE Hunter Henry in the second quarter. Bailey is the first Patriots player with three touchdowns in the first half since Tom Brady vs. the New York Jets on Dec. 30. 2018. Zappe finished 19-of-28 for 240 yards with the three touchdowns in a 21-18 win.
• Finished 25-of-33 for 256 yards at Denver (12/24) with two touchdown passes, a 15-yard touchdown pass to RB Ezekiel Elliott in third quarter and a 11-yard touchdown pass to TE Mike Gesicki in the third quarter of a 26-23 win. Had five pass completions of at least 20 yards, with a 41-yard pass to WR Demario Douglas, a 30-yard pass to WR DeVante Parker, a 28-yard pass to WR Jalen Reagor, a 27-yard pass to Parker and a 20-yard pass to TE Pharaoh Brown. Engineered the game-winning drive, going 3-for-4 for 36 yards. Connected with WR DeVante Parker for a gain of 27-yards on a third-and-3 play setting up the 56-yard field goal that won the game.
• Capped a 6-play, 75-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown run in the second quarter for his first career rushing touchdown at Buffalo (12/31).

2022 (4/2)

• Began the season as the third string quarterback but moved to the back up quarterback spot after the injury to Mac Jones and then the injury to Brian Hoyer.
• Played in four games with two starts and completed 65-of-92 passes for 781 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.
• Elevated to the backup quarterback due to Mac Jones being injured ahead of the game at Green Bay (10/2). Made his NFL debut in the first quarter against the Packers after Brian Hoyer left with an injury. His first completion was a 9-yard pass to WR Lil'Jordan Humphrey in the second quarter. Led the team on a 75-yard, seven-play drive that resulted in his first touchdown pass on a 25-yard strike to WR DeVante Parker in the third quarter. That was the first touchdown pass by a rookie quarterback in 2022. Later in the fourth quarter he led the team on a 66-yard, seven-play drive that resulted in a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Damien Harris. Took the Patriots to overtime against the Packers. Finished 10-of-15 for 99 yards with one touchdown. Was the first player to ever make his NFL debut as a visitor at Lambeau Filed and throw a touchdown pass in that game.
• Made his first NFL start vs. Detroit (10/9) and led the team to a 29-0 victory. Finished 17-of-21 for 188 yards with one touchdown and one interception and completed 80.1 percent of his passes. His touchdown pass was a 24-yard pass to WR Jakobi Meyers in the third quarter.
• Made his second straight start at Cleveland (10/16) and led the team to a 38-15 victory. Finished 24-of-34 for 309 yards with two touchdown passes. Had a 2-yard touchdown pass to WR Tyquan Thornton in the third quarter. Also had a 31-yard touchdown pass to TE Hunter Henry in the third quarter. He became the first Patriots rookie quarterback to win in his first home and first road game. Had a passer rating of 118.4. He is the first rookie quarterback to win both of his first two starts with a 100-plus passer rating since Sonny Jurgensen in 1957.
• Took over at quarterback after the third series vs. Chicago (10/24) with the limited return of Mac Jones. Finished 14-of-22 for 185 yards. Led the Patriots to their first touchdown of the game on his first drive with a career-long 30-yard touchdown pass to WR Jakobi Meyers in the second quarter. Also had a 43-yard completion to WR DeVante Parke which gave the Patriots the ball on the Bears 7-yard line and ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by RB Rhamondre Stevenson.

COLLEGE

• Played his first four college seasons at Houston Baptist before playing at Western Kentucky during the 2021 season.
• For his career at Houston Baptist, Zappe completed 900-of-1,477 passes (60.9%) for 10,004 yards, with 78 touchdowns and 39 interceptions.
• Played and started in all 14 games completing 475-of-686 passes (69.2%) for 5,987 yards, with 62 touchdowns and 11 interceptions during his graduate year at Western Kentucky in 2021.
• Set new all-time single-season FBS records, passing Texas Tech's B.J. Symons, who had 5,833 yards in 13 games in 2003 and LSU's Joe Burrow, who had 60 touchdowns in 15 games in 2019.
• Led the nation in yards by 1,095 and touchdowns by 15 (the next-closest was Alabama's Bryce Young with 4,872 yards and 47 touchdowns).
• Named the winner of the 2021 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. He was the second Hilltopper in the program's FBS Era (since 2009) to win a national award, joining quarterback Brandon Doughty – who won the 2014 Sammy Baugh Award, which was presented annually by the Touchdown Club of Columbus to the nation's top collegiate passer from 1959-2018.
• He was Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week four times and was voted the league's Most Valuable Player by the 14 head coaches. With a C-USA Championship Game-record and career-high 577 yards at UTSA on December 3, he became only the sixth quarterback in FBS history to achieve a 5,000-yard, 50-touchdown campaign.
• Had two games of 500+ yards, eight games of 400+ yards and 13 games of 300+ yards.
• Played in four games completing 141-of-215 passes (65.6%) for 1,833 yards, 15 touchdowns and one interception as a senior in 2020 at Houston Baptist.
• Earned Southland Conference Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll all four years while studying sports medicine at HBU.
• Zappe eclipsed the 10,000-yard mark for his career with a 12-yard pass to ice a season-ending win for the Huskies at Eastern Kentucky.

PERSONAL

• Zappe grew up in Victoria, Texas and attended Victoria East High School.
• As a senior, he passed for 3,770 yards and 37 touchdowns, while rushing for 633 yards and scoring 15 touchdowns.
• He was born on April 26, 1999.

EXTRA POINTS

• Bailey Zappe is the 13th quarterback drafted by the Patriots under Bill Belichick. Zappe is the first player to ever be drafted by the Patriots from Western Kentucky.
• The Patriots now have three drafted quarterbacks on the roster with Zappe, Mac Jones (first round in 2020) and Jarrett Stidham (fourth round in 2019). Brian Hoyer is the other quarterback on the roster. He originally joined New England as a rookie free agent in 2009.