Could the New England Patriots stick with Bailey Zappe as their starting quarterback when Mac Jones recovers from an ankle injury?

Patriots coach Bill Belichick had the opportunity to answer that question on Monday, and he sidestepped it every time.

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Jones had served as New England’s starting quarterback in every game of his NFL career until the former Alabama All-American sustained an ankle injury on the final offensive snap of a 37-26 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 25.

Veteran Brian Hoyer got the start on Oct. 2 but sustained a concussion after throwing six passes. Rookie Bailey Zappe finished the 27-24 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers, then went all the way under center as the Patriots defeated the Detroit Lions 29-0 on Oct. 9 and the Cleveland Browns 38-15 on Sunday.

The fourth-round pick has completed 51-of-70 passes for 596 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in helping New England even its 2022 record at 3-3.

After earning a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team in 2021, Jones completed 64-of-97 passes for 786 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions in the first three games of 2022.

Since getting hurt, Jones has moved through the stages on the Patriots’ injury report. Ruled out for the game against Green Bay, Jones stepped up to a doubtful designation against Detroit and a questionable rating against Cleveland.

If that pace of progress continues, Jones will no longer have an injury designation for New England’s next game – the Week 7 Monday night contest against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 24.

If Jones is healthy again, will he return as the Patriots’ starter against Chicago?

Belichick was asked that question on Monday during his regular weekly appearance on “The Greg Hill Show” on WEEI-FM in Boston.

“That wasn’t an option yesterday,” Belichick said. “He wasn’t active for the game, so there was really no option to play him.”

Belichick was asked a similar question at his Monday press conference: “Who do you expect to be the starter once Mac Jones is healthy?”

And he gave a similar answer: “We’ll see how that process is. Mac still wasn’t able to play yesterday, so we’ll continue to evaluate him and see how he’s doing physically.”

Belichick also was asked if Zappe was competing for the starting-QB job or did that spot belong to Jones when he’s healthy enough to play.

“It’s every player’s job to be ready to go,” Belichick said. “That’s their job. Mac wasn’t active yesterday, so there’s nothing really to talk about.”

Belichick did say he didn’t think it was fair to compare Jones’ performance in the first three games of the season to Zappe’s showing in the past three.

Belichick noted that Jones had stayed involved even while sidelined.

“Mac does a great job,” Belichick said. “He gives us great leadership, great presence for our entire team, but especially for the offense and in the quarterback room. Mac’s got a lot of insight having played, especially a team like (Cleveland) that he played last year.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.