The Facts: At the NFL Owners’ Meetings in Phoenix, Bill Belichick was mum on his starting quarterback for 2023. That continued a trend from his season-ending press conference, when the Patriots coach was also noncommittal on Mac Jones as his starter for 2023. At a youth football clinic in Newport on Wednesday afternoon, Zappe vowed to be ready if given a chance to compete this summer. “If my opportunity presents itself, I’m going to take full advantage of it,” Zappe told reporters, including Bob Socci. “I’m going to do everything I can to help the team win. That’s really all I can say from that standpoint. That’s Coach Belichick’s decision, whatever he decides. But if the opportunity presents itself, I’m going to be ready and take advantage of it.”

Diehards Line: While Belichick often touts open competition, last spring he called Jones “our quarterback” at OTAs and said they’d be tailoring the offense to his strengths. At the NFL Owners’ Meetings last month, Belichick was singing a different tune heading into 2023. “Well, everybody will get a chance to play. We’ll play the best players,” Belichick said. While Jones started every game that he was healthy for last season, Zappe proved to be a solid understudy. He pushed Green Bay to the limit as a backup and won a pair of spot starts before ultimately falling back to earth in New England’s disastrous Monday night loss to the Bears. After reiterating “everybody will get a chance to play,” Belichick said in a follow-up question that this was a roster-wide philosophy entering this summer. ... We'll be watching this one closely.