Patriots inactives: Bailey Zappe set for first career start; Tyquan Thornton to make NFL debut

FOXBORO -- Mac Jones is inactive for Sunday's Patriots-Lions tilt at Gillette Stadium, paving way for rookie Bailey Zappe to make his first career NFL start. Another Patriots rookie will also debut in Sunday's game.

Rookie receiver Tyquan Thornton, who was sidelined for over a month after breaking his collarbone during the preseason, is active and set to play Sunday. Taken with the 50th overall pick in this year's NFL Draft out of Baylor, Thornton had shown some promising flashes in the preseason before getting hurt in the second exhibition game against the Carolina Panthers. He began practicing this week and was added to the 53-man roster on Saturday.

In addition to having Thornton in its wide receiver corps, New England will also have Jakobi Meyers out there for the first time in three weeks. Meyers missed the last two games with a knee injury. 

Jones will miss his second straight game as he recovers from a high ankle sprain that he suffered at the end of New England's Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. With that, Zappe will make the first start of his young NFL career against the Lions. 

The 24-year-old replaced the injured Brian Hoyer last Sunday in Green Bay and completed 10 of his 15 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown in New England's overtime loss. Now we'll see what Zappe can do against the NFL's worst defense. The Lions have allowed a league-worst 445 yards and 35.3 points per game over the first four weeks of the season.

Zappe will be just the third rookie quarterback to start a game for a Patriots team led by Bill Belichick, joining Jones (2021) and Jacoby Brissett (2016). 

Elsewhere on the inactive front, tight end Jonnu Smith and defensive lineman Lawrence Guy will not play on Sunday.

Smith's injury leaves the Patriots with just Hunter Henry at tight end, though receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey is also able to play the position. 

The good news for New England's defense is that Jalen Mills is active, after he missed last week's game with a hamstring injury.

Detroit will be without receiver D.J. Chark, but top receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is active for the game.

We've got Sunday's Patriots-Lions game covered for you, starting at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay. After the game, you can watch Patriots 5th Quarter streaming on CBSBoston.com and on TV38 following Revolution-Fire FC coverage!