The New England Patriots made a notable change to their quarterback depth chart during Day 2 of training camp.
Rookie QB Joe Milton took reps ahead of Bailey Zappe, making him the apparent No. 3 QB behind Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye. The switch prompted an interesting question on the latest episode of Tom E. Curran's Patriots Talk Podcast with Phil Perry.
Perry wondered about the Pats' QB plan if Brissett goes down with an injury and they aren't ready to play their rookie first-rounder. Would Zappe regain his role as the backup, or would New England address the position via free agency?
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"Say you didn't necessarily want to play Drake Maye. Say the offensive line is bad enough where even if you think he's kind of ready, you don't want to throw him out there, and Jacoby Brissett does get banged up early in the season," Perry said. "If it's not Bailey Zappe, would you be interested in any of these names that I'm about to throw at you who are still free agents, and who all have some level of experience in an offense like this one?
"Ryan Tannehill, who had the best year of his career with Arthur Smith in Tennessee in this type of offense. Name number two, Blaine Gabbert, who most recently was with Andy Reid (in Kansas City), so different kind of scheme, but has also been in that Tennessee system. ... The third name is Trevor Siemian, who played for ... the Vikings under Gary Kubiak, who's sort of one of the godfathers of this (offense). Any of those three names interest you over Bailey Zappe?"
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If Curran were in charge, he'd go the free agency route.
"Over Bailey Zappe, all do," Curran answered. "Because they're bigger, stronger-armed players. And I don't even know if Trevor Siemian's got a weapon. I'm presuming it's better (than Zappe's) though.
"But to me, Tannehill would be the best. I mean, Tannehill you could actually entertain the idea that he would be equal to or comparable to Brissett in terms of putting him out there. He's got starting experience, very good athlete, good arm, strong, tough, can run."
Also in the episode:
- Breaking down a tough day of training camp for the offense.
- First impressions of Ja'Lynn Polk and the WR group.