Bailey Zappe, Patriots' quality control worth watching vs. Texans

Even if every player of note is collecting dust on the sideline all night, giddiness accompanies every preseason opener. You like football. I like football. We like football. THIS IS FOOTBALL!

Does that giddiness vaporize soon after halftime when you -- slack-jawed and watching through half-mast eyes -- are dimly aware of players you don’t know making the stray brilliant play that will do nothing to dilute the parade of mediocrity they’ve submitted in dozens of meetings, workouts and practices?

It does. But it’s a process. And you can’t be expected to give a full 60 minutes of Mike Reiss-like attention to every snap. You’re just not in that kind of shape.

You already have your list of things to look for in Thursday night’s game against the Texans. Is Demario "Pop" Douglas really able to teleport? Does Christian Gonzalez look as smoothly as you’re hearing? Can second-year backs Kevin Harris and Pierre Strong make you stop pining for Dalvin Cook or Ezekiel Elliott?

I’m looking for all those things too. Plus a few more. Here dey are.

Let's have it look tidy, shall we?

You know how many penalties the Patriots had in the preseason opener last year? Twelve. Twelve for 89 yards. Too many men on the field (defense). False start. Illegal formation on a kickoff. Hold. Offensive pass interference. False start. Defensive pass interference. Illegal contact. Illegal use of hands. False start. Facemask. Facemask. Illegal shift. Roughing the passer.

Know how many penalties they had in the second preseason game? Twelve. Twelve for 104. With another too many men on the field, a defensive offside and four more false starts.

Way too much chaos. And it served as the precursor to what wound up being the most disorganized, dysfunctional, disconcerting season of Bill Belichick’s 23 years in charge.

Even though most of the starters won’t play, it still matters to me to observe how “on the details” the end of the roster guys -- and the coaching staff -- are. Quality control was a mess in 2022. Let’s see if it was a blip or a trend.

Let's have a shot of Bailey

Last year, Brian Hoyer was the backup and got the first quarter of play against the Panthers before giving way to Bailey Zappe. Zappe’s now ascended the depth chart to No. 2. Behind him are Trace McSorley – who hasn’t been stellar in camp – and rookie Malik Cunningham, who’s worked mostly at wideout during camp but took a bunch of quarterback reps this week and looks likely to see some time.

🔊 Next Pats: Patriots Rookie QB Malik Cunningham has the potential to turn in an ELECTRIC preseason | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

Zappe has the ability to be a nice, hands on the wheel at 10-and-2 backup quarterback. Mac Jones -- despite Belichick’s reticence to utter the words “he’s our starting quarterback” -- doesn’t appear to be in a competition with anyone but himself. The gap between the two players is sizable. But what Zappe has going for him is intelligence, accuracy, some movement skill and leadership.

A half of football in which Zappe commands Bill O’Brien’s offense, converts third downs and strings some drives together would be helpful. The snapshot of high-level competency he showed last season was terrific. This should be a big night for him to show he’s improved to the point where he’s suited to be a twisted ankle away from taking over a team with playoff aspirations.

Tight end emergence

Hunter Henry’s a really good player. Mike Gesicki, who’s more of a hybrid TE/WR, has come on in the past week. Who’s the depth behind those two?

It’s Anthony Firkser, a sixth-year tight end who spent the bulk of his time with Tennessee, and Matt Sokol, who spent last year on the Patriots practice squad. There’s also massive undrafted rookie Johnny Lumpkin. The Patriots will probably spend a lot of time in two tight end sets this year and -- inevitably -- a guy’s gonna get dinged.

My eyes will be on Firkser first. He’s a capable pass-catcher. Sokol has also had some flash plays in practice. I do want to see what Lumpkin can do too. He’s likely a project and could be heading for the practice squad but he’s got a smoothness to him even at 270.

Offensive line hasn't been that bad

I hope those aren’t “famous last words.” But even though the early portion of camp was pockmarked by injuries and absences along the line and more than a few aborted plays because of pressure that would have been sacks, the Patriots have a fleet of young linemen they really need to emerge.

Bill Murray, Chasen Hines, Kody Russey, Jake Andrews, Atonio Mafi and Sidy Sow … have a night. Let’s not have it look like a jailbreak. And give Harris and Strong some room to operate in the running game.

Can the kicker do it with the lights on?

Chad Ryland, the baby-faced fourth-rounder from Maryland, has been very good in practices as he tries to wrest the kicking job from Nick Folk. Kickoffs need to be deep. Field goals need to be pure. Because Folk is fairways and greens all the time, even if he doesn’t have the biggest leg anymore.

Rookie watch

Defensively, it will be interesting to see how much work the 21-year-old first-rounder Gonzalez gets. He’s seemingly entrenched as a starter already but he needs to get his feet wet in the NFL as well.

Meanwhile, second-rounder Keion White is a player the Patriots felt fortunate to get outside the first round. Can he show the speed/power combo that makes him such an intriguing prospect in his first action?

And while Pop Douglas has dominated with flash play after flash play in practice, sixth-rounder Kayshon Boutte has made big strides in recent practices and could have a big role on Thursday.