Picked up pieces after not enough sleep, too much food, and a lot of football.
Bill Belichick turned three Bailey Zappe-centric postgame questions into answers that barely included the quarterback. When it came to Mac Jones, we grew to expect it, especially during last offseason. But for Zappe? Considering how he's given this team a shot in the arm, let's just say I don't get it and probably never will.
But maybe Belichick got something good under the tree from Santa because he was pretty effusive in his praise of the second-year QB during his weekly appearance on "The Greg Hill Show" on WEEI.
"The quarterback position, the most important thing is ball security, protecting the team, and not turning the ball over," said Belichick. "That's definitely gotten better for him. He's made some key plays on third down and made a couple of explosive plays on balls down the field to different receivers - to (DeVante) Parker, to Pharaoh (Brown) on the seam route, to (Jalen) Reagor. And then he had a couple plays like the throws to Zeke, the one we missed out in the flat, and the other one that he got out there to him on time where he was able to break a few tackles and score a touchdown, a big third down extended play scramble that he hit Mike on for a touchdown.
"Continue to improve, and again, I thought he did a good job in Pittsburgh and Denver handling the crowd noise and the operation at the line of scrimmage pretty cleanly. We didn't have very many mental problems there. I mean, there were a couple times when we got beat and that kind of thing. But as far as getting the plays called right, run right, blocked right, he did a good job on that. Denver had several different looks that we had to deal with. They had a couple of different nickel looks, and then their base defense and a couple of different dime looks. A team that we saw multiple different defensive looks out of, more than what most teams run. That was challenging, but I thought he did a good job of that. Moving in the right direction."
Not quite the tongue bath he gave Mac Jones during the spring and summer between years one and two (I wonder if Mac has those quotes in his journal? Just for some positive affirmation), but not too shabby, especially for a player who has yet to put together a full 60-minutes.
- Kurt Warner revealed that Zappe reached out to him when he got cut and re-signed in August. Is that allowed by Belichick and chief public defender Mike Lombardi, or will that come under fire like Mac contacting outside counsel a year ago? The above answer on the radio seems to indicate it's smooth sailing for Zappe.
- Speaking of Belichick, he has expressed doubt about his future in New England to the staff at various points over the last few weeks. To the best of my knowledge (and as reported on NFL Network this weekend), he has yet to sit down with ownership. If he won't survive, I think this is a massive misstep by RKK/JKK. They could turn the final week against the Jets into a celebration of all Bill's accomplishments here and guarantee a full house for a meaningless game. Instead, by dragging it out, they risk turning and burning Belichick on Black Monday. That doesn't feel right to me. And I would gather ownership has a clue if any team that might be in the market for a head coach would want their head coach and if they could possibly extract a pick or two out of them. While I'm for getting an asset, I don't think that's based in reality (though I've been wrong before). Do it or don't, but to hold up the future by dickering over compensation is foolhardy, in my humble opinion.
- Belichick was asked on WEEI if he would like assurances from the Krafts, as Woody Johnson gave Robert Saleh and his staff in New York with the Jets.
"I don't really know anything about the Jets situation," Belichick said. "I don't know anything about that. (Going) to get ready for Buffalo here. Go back over the Denver game, make some corrections on that, and talk about things we could have done better and things we need to build on, and then move on to Buffalo. That's what I'm going to keep doing. That's what I've always done."
Pressed further, he played dip, duck, and dodge ("If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball." Name that flick)
"Yeah, my job is to get the team ready to play every week. That's what I do," Belichick said. "That's what I'm doing. That's what I've always done."
- I have mentioned in this space the need for the Krafts to dig deeper into the organizations that have had consistent success - Baltimore, SF, Philly, KC - as they ponder their future leadership at GM and head coach. As if on cue, the Ravens - who consistently draft well - stomp the 49ers, and their Director of Player Personnel, Joe Hortiz, is getting love all over my social media timelines. Hortiz is the guy behind GM Eric DeCosta and has considerable juice in the organization. If the Pats don't request an interview with him, they're not doing their best to "modernize" the operation. So add him to my list, including SF's Adam Peters, KC's Mike Borgonzi and Brandt Tilis, Cincy's Trey Brown (who started scouting career here, then expanded his role in Philly), and Alec Halaby in Philly.
- Keion White had, by my film study, the second-best game of his rookie season. I'm still determining what his ceiling is - I thought there would be some more noteworthy moments to this point - but he certainly has the raw tools to continue growing, and there's no question he has a bit of an enforcer in him. That needs to be managed a bit better - a couple of unnecessary flags this season - but he's stronger than an ox, and I like a good mean streak.