FOXBOROUGH – As soon as the ball was snapped, the Denver Broncos blitzed. The defense sent six players rushing toward five Patriots offensive linemen. As the pocket collapsed in under 2.3 seconds, Bailey Zappe never lost sight of his target.
Amid the chaos, the Patriots quarterback was locked onto DeVante Parker. By this point, Zappe learned to not look at the pass rush but to keep his eyes downfield. That’s when he unleashed a 30-yard pass to Parker.
That play was one example of Bailey’s ability to stay composed in the pocket. His use of footwork to evade defenders has been a significant factor in his success as the Patriots starting quarterback. It’s also a testament to the impact of an assistant coach not widely known.
After coming to New England with Matt Patricia in 2021, in a ‘research and analysis/coaching role,’ Evan Rothstein served as an offensive assistant last season and was promoted to Patriots assistant quarterbacks coach this year.
Rothstein arrived in Foxborough after working under three different head coaches over a nine-year period in Detroit. Described as a ‘genius,’ Rothstein’s influence on the Patriots has been evident this season with Zappe.
The second-year player attributes his pocket movement and awareness to his assistant quarterbacks coach.
“We usually do that stuff every day before practice. We get out there 15-20 minutes before – have the bags and he kind of walks out there and tells us what drills he wants us to do,” Zappe said. “We’re pretty routine about it. We do it every day. The more you do it, the more it becomes second nature to you so when you get on the field, you’re not really worried about it or thinking about it, it becomes natural.
“That’s what you want. You don’t want to be back there worried about the rush. You want to be able to have your eyes downfield. That’s really helped a lot – doing that stuff before practice.”
For a coach flying under the radar, Rothstein has made a significant impact with the Patriots.
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Rothstein’s work with Zappe pays off
Simulating a quarterback under pressure can be challenging. In practice, Zappe wears a red non-contact jersey, and defensive players are instructed to ease up beyond the line of scrimmage. That isn’t the case come game time.
That’s why Rothstein runs his quarterbacks through various drills before practice. This happens before the Patriots team stretch and the game-planning portion of practice. When asked how much Rothstein has helped him this year, Zappe said, “A lot” and detailed a certain drill that’s improved his pocket awareness.
“We do these bags – these big pop-up blue bags and we have to shuffle through them. There’s sometimes where he slings them at us and we have to dodge it. He’s like laughing the entire time,” Zappe explained. “Majority of it is feel in the pocket. I’m trying not to look at the bags, but look downfield.”
The goal is to create muscle memory. Come game time, Rothstein wants his quarterbacks to keep their eyes downfield, even when the pocket collapses. He simulates this by occasionally throwing blue bags at Zappe & Co. The quarterbacks also work on footwork drills to practice stepping up in the pocket to avoid a would-be sack.
“We also have our equipment guys out there running around. We’re looking at them as we’re trying to feel our way around the bags,” Zappe said. “It just kind of correlates to in the game to where you feel pressure, feel someone coming around and just stepping up, not looking at the rush and keeping your eyes downfield.
“Evan is really big on drills, so before every practice, we get out there early and do drills. He has a lot of drills for us quarterbacks. Just fine-tuning mechanics and stuff like that. He’s very strict on that stuff. It helps us out and doesn’t let us get lackadaisical with it all. That’s the biggest thing he’s helped me with.”
Zappe’s shown this ability several times this season. It’s giving him an edge over Mac Jones, who struggled under pressure before losing his starting job. Zappe’s improved pocket awareness was showcased in his first NFL fourth-quarterback comeback in Denver.
For instance, at 12:44 of the third quarter, Broncos linebacker Jonathan Cooper quickly got by Pharaoh Brown. Zappe moved up in the pocket, kept moving up, and threw a 41-yard pass to Demario Douglas.
“That’s one thing in the game that was very improved by him,” Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien said of Zappe. “I always call it negotiate the pocket or manipulate the pocket. It’s not always perfect. He does a good job of that. Evan Rothstein works a lot on that with him before stretch every single day. That really showed up on the game. Bailey did a really good job of that, keeping his eyes downfield and negotiating that pocket. He did a really good job there.”
Who is Evan Rothstein?
Rothstein is the only Patriots assistant coach with a specific title who doesn’t have his own Wikipedia page. During his three seasons in New England, he’s never met with the local media. For someone who keeps a low profile, it doesn’t take players long to figure out how smart Rothstein truly is.
For Zappe, it happened the first time he walked into his office. Rothstein has a setup with three computer monitors at his desk.
“You walk into his office and he has three monitors and he’s using all three at the same time. It’s like, ‘Yeah, this guy is on a different level,’” Zappe said. “You just listen to him and the way he talks about football – to be able to pick his brain is awesome because he just knows so much about it.”
Since following Patricia to New England in 2021, Rothstein has been a versatile chest piece for Bill Belichick. In his first season, he worked in a ‘research and analysis/coaching role.’ That was similar to what Rothstein did with Patricia in Detroit, where he was the Lions ‘head coach assistant/research & analyst’ from 2018-2020.
In his Patriots bio, it says Rothstein worked with Patricia’s coaching the coaching staff “in all facets of preparation for the team’s weekly opponents.” That was in addition to assisting Patricia. Before that, Rothstein had titles as the Lions special teams quality control coach (2012-2013), special projects (2014), and offensive assistant coach/research and analysis (2015-2017).
In New England, Patricia has helped Belichick on both sides of the ball. On Sept. 8, the Patriots coach was asked about Rothstein and said, “Evan is a really smart guy. He’s versatile, does a lot of things for our staff, works on offense, defense, does some other things with preparation of situations and things like that. So, our staff is a collaborative effort in a number of areas. He’s a pretty versatile guy, so helps in a lot of different areas.”
When Will Grier came to New England this fall, he admitted he didn’t know anything about Rothstein, but like Zappe, quickly discovered that the coach was a wealth of knowledge.
“He’s great. He’s a smart guy. I didn’t know him coming in,” Grier said. “He helps a lot with game planning and just in the quarterback room – how he sees things. How he sees the opponent, how he breaks down the tape and stuff like that.”
When asked what exactly Rothstein does, Zappe replied, “Everything” before adding the coach has his hand in creating offensive call sheets.
“Quite frankly, he does a lot of things for the offense. He helps out OB in every way possible,” Zappe said. “He does a lot of stuff because he has such great knowledge and he helps OB a lot. Those are two guys that are both geniuses in the football world so having both is pretty sweet.”
Since taking over for Jones four weeks ago, Zappe hasn’t been perfect, but the quarterback’s helped breathe new life into a struggling Patriots offense. Behind his rise, he’s had plenty of help from an assistant coach most Patriots fans haven’t heard of.
“Evan’s awesome. He is super intelligent,” Zappe said. “I think honestly, he quietly knows everything you need to know about football as far as coverages as far as situations as far as it’s fourth-and-10 at your own (whatever), think of any situation and he’ll know.
“He’s super intelligent. For us as quarterbacks and us as an offense, if there’s ever any question you need answered, going to him is a good thing.”
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