Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are once again on the hunt for some extra help at the quarterback position.
At least that’s the way it would appear, as the team is slated to put free-agent quarterback Ian Book through a workout Wednesday morning in Foxborough, according to a report from NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Word of Book’s upcoming workout with the Pats comes on the heels of Book, who was most recently with the Philadelphia Eagles prior to his release late last month, working out for the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JANUARY 01: Ian Book #19 of the Philadelphia Eagles warms up against the New Orleans Saints at Lincoln Financial Field on January 01, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
A waiver claim by the Eagles in 2022, the 25-year-old Book spent all of last year as the Eagles’ No. 3 quarterback behind Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew II, and was by all means the No. 4 quarterback on the Philadelphia depth chart at the time of his release at the end of the club’s 2023 training camp.
In action for two games during the 2023 preseason, Book went 12-for-19 for 91 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, and added 31 rushing yards on six carries.
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 19: Ian Book #16 of the New Orleans Saints looks to pass against the Green Bay Packers during a preseason game at Lambeau Field on August 19, 2022 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)’
Drafted by New Orleans with a fourth-round pick in 2021, the 6-foot Book has made one regular-season start in his NFL career, which came all the way back on Dec. 27, 2021 against Miami.
It was a pretty heinous start, all things considered, as Book completed just 12 of his 20 passing attempts for a total of 135 yards. And in addition to failing to find the back of the endzone, Book was also dinged for two interceptions, and took a staggering eight sacks (and for a loss of 54 yards in total) on the way to a 20-3 loss.
It was hard to argue that Book was put into anything resembling a favorable position (he only got the start because the rest of the Saints’ quarterback room was dealing with COVID), but the loss is still an ugly one and lingers over Book, especially with it being the only appearance of his NFL career to date.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JANUARY 01: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter in the 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One at AT&T Stadium on January 01, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Prior to his time in New Orleans and Philadelphia, Book put forth a strong career at Notre Dame.
With the Irish from 2016 through 2020, Book threw for 8,948 yards and 72 touchdowns, and rushed for another 17 scores, over a 35-game run as the Irish’s starting quarterback.
Book also compiled a 30-5 as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, which is the most wins by a starting quarterback in the nearly century and a half long history of Notre Dame football.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 10: Bailey Zappe #4 of the Patriots watches offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien of the New England Patriots talks to Mac Jones #10 of the Patriots. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Patriots’ interest in getting a look at what Book could potentially bring to their quarterback room comes just days after Mac Jones went 35-for-54 with 316 yards and three scores.
And it truthfully has almost nothing to do with Jones, but rather what’s behind Jones, especially with recent waiver claim Matt Corral moved to the rarely-used exempt/left squad list after Corral failed to report to the team facility following Thursday’s practice. With Corral out of the picture for the time being (it’s also important to note that he cannot sign with another team so long as he’s on this list), the Patriots are free to use his roster spot on someone else for the time being. They used it to bring Bailey Zappe up from the practice squad in Week 1, and that could remain the case for the foreseeable future.
If Zappe is elevated on something resembling a full-time basis, the Patriots could have an opening for Book on the team’s practice squad, especially with training camp standout and multi-faceted weapon Malik Cunningham being used as more wide receiver than quarterback.
