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Rob Gronkowski says Bailey Zappe is taking away reps from Drake Maye, Joe Milton

Patriots’ third-year quarterback Bailey Zappe played more than half of the Patriots’ offensive snaps under center in the NFL’s first preseason game on Thursday night. Rookie quarterbacks Drake Maye and Joe Milton III saw three and 20 snaps, respectively.

Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski gave a blunt assessment of head coach Jerod Mayo’s decision.

“It was kinda a little weird to me that (Maye) only played six plays. As the third pick overall, you gotta see what he has,” Gronkowski said on FS1’s “First Things First” on Friday. “You gotta be able to show he’s good so he’s ready to go when his time is called in the season.