“Zappe-mania” will be running wild for at least another week.
New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones walked out onto the field at FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday, ahead of the team’s road game against the Cleveland Browns. But he never went through the normal warmups, which was an early indication that he wouldn’t be ready to play.
Jones is still working his way back from the ankle injury he suffered in the Patriots’ Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. So far, he appears to be ahead of schedule with what was diagnosed as a high ankle sprain.
However, the Patriots have seen enough from Zappe to trust him to take the reins as the starter, for now. He nearly knocked off Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, and in Week 5, he helped lead the team to their first home victory of the season over the Detroit Lions.
Patriots starting running back Damien Harris has also been ruled out for Sunday’s game. That means the team will see a heavy dose of Rhamondre Steven against one of the worst rushing defenses in the league. Stevenson lit the world on fire with 25 carries for 161 rushing yards against the Lions.
Here’s the full list of inactives.
Patriots inactives. pic.twitter.com/iZ4I361zlP
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 16, 2022
A win would even out the Patriots’ record to 3-3 and put them back in the driver’s seat with four winnable games coming up on the schedule.
