FOXBOROUGH — Now that the New England Patriots are back to .500 with a 3-3 record after beating the Cleveland Browns Sunday 35-15, voices are circling in the sports world. But let me be the first to say, Bailey Zappe isn’t taking Mac Jones’ starting job at quarterback.

The first reason for that is because Zappe hasn’t done anything special that Mac can’t do or wasn’t doing before his high ankle injury. This past Sunday we saw Zappe’s best numbers with 309 passing yards and 2 TD’s. He’s showing that he is in no way a scrub. But let’s be honest: the Patriots have been playing bad teams. The New England defense is so elite it’s making Zappe better than he his.

Hell, last Sunday, if you look on the other sideline you see a former backup in Jacoby Brissett have a terrible game with 2 interceptions, 1 touchdown, and 24 incompletions. Jimmy G, is up in San Fran and before an injury was going to lose his starting job. Let’s not get it confused, Bill Belichick knows how to make his quarterback look good as long as he has a reputable defense. This case is no different.

Again, Zappe has shown to be impressive so far as a third string quarterback. Is Brian Hoyer back? We don’t know. It doesn’t even matter because clearly Zappe has shown something to the coaches that he can get it done. Jones traveled to Cleveland and was possibly going to play, if they didn’t think Zappe could game manage then I believe Jones would’ve played. Nonetheless, best believe when Jones is back, he’s going to start.

Another big reason for Jones returning to starter when he gets healthy is that Jones can execute way more plays in the playbook. With Zappe, we see slants, screens, and play-action. Now don’t get me wrong, we see a lot of the same with Jones. However, Jones does more plays out of the shotgun and can scramble outside the pocket as well.

So before more people start posting stats on how he’s the only rookie to put up the numbers within his first two starts, JUST STOP IT! Because once Zappe see’s more complex defenses in more tougher environments, things will change.

Having ‘Zappe fever’ isn’t bad, let’s just not go overboard with it.