First-year head coach Jerod Mayo has insisted in recent weeks that veteran Jacoby Brissett is the New England Patriots’ starting quarterback over promising rookie Drake Maye until further notice.
Patriots and NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated offered an update on the situation during an NBC Sports Boston appearance that aired before the Patriots fell to 1-4 on the season via a 15-10 home loss to the Miami Dolphins (2-3).
“I’m told he is closing in now on being the best quarterback on the team,” Breer said about Maye, per Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston. “So, what does this mean going forward? Well, players can tell and see the drumbeat for where this is going. I think what this is gonna come down to is, when he does wind up passing Jacoby Brissett and other people can see that he’s the best quarterback on the team, is the team ready to support him? I still think Drake Maye becoming the starter at some point in November is very much on the table.”
It’s understandable Mayo wants to protect Maye considering Brissett took 13 sacks over the past three games while playing behind what may be the league’s worst offensive line. However, Karen Guregian of MassLive noted on Monday morning that “the Patriots need to think long and hard about putting [Maye] in a little sooner than hoped, or in this case, planned” after reporter Evan Lazar of the club’s website somewhat controversially said last week that the New England locker room was “teetering on mutiny” with Brissett in the lineup.
According to ESPN stats, Brissett began Monday ranked 28th in the NFL among qualified players with a 38.8 adjusted QBR and 29th with a 74.2 passer rating on the season. Meanwhile, New England is 31st in the NFL with an average of 12.4 points scored per game and last with an average of 119.4 passing yards per contest.
“His progress has been steady in all the areas we’ve talked about: footwork, understanding what he’s looking at with defenses,” Breer added about Maye’s development. “And really, what he’s made strides in over the last couple weeks is in blitz situations. This is gonna be huge because that’s a big part of what the Patriots are getting thrown at them right now with their offensive line issue.”
Mayo may not want to play the first-year pro in this coming Sunday’s home game against the 4-1 Houston Texans. However, the coach could feel he has to start Maye versus the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) in London on Oct. 20 to prevent at least some players from tapping out on the season ahead of Halloween.
