Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made his first public comments about last week’s quarterback moves on Monday.
The Patriots waived Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham last Tuesday, brought them back to the practice squad and claimed 2022 third-round pick Matt Corral off waivers from the Panthers to change the look of their quarterback room. On Monday, Belichick said “all the roster decisions are based on what we feel like is best for our football team” when asked about cutting Zappe and said he still thinks the 2022 fourth-rounder is “a good, young, developing player.”
Belichick also called Corral “a player we wanted to work with” after scouting him at Ole Miss and said his spot on the 53-man roster doesn’t mean he will be the No. 2 quarterback behind Mac Jones against the Eagles in Week One.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Belichick said, via NESN.com. “He hasn’t even been on the field yet. We’ll see.”
The Patriots can call Zappe and Cunningham up from the practice squad three times each before they would have to be exposed to waivers again, so it may be a while before anything’s fully settled about the backup quarterback job in New England.