New England Patriots fans will have to wait until Drake Maye is in the starting lineup.
Maye, the third overall pick in the NFL Draft, will be keeping an eye on Jacoby Brissett, at least to begin the season. In a team meeting Thursday morning, head coach Jerod Mayo named Brissett his starter for Week 1, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The team announced the news a little later. New England opens the season at the Cincinnati Bengals.
The decision was more complicated than picking the best quarterback. Patriots coach Jerod Mayo admitted that Maye outperformed Brissett in the preseason. New England has declined to promote Maye to QB1, likely because of a bad situation at quarterback.
Brissett, the veteran, will start the season while Maye waits.
Jacoby Brissett gets the nod
If it was a real competition, Maye might have won it. He was clearly the better player in the preseason.
Maye completed 21 of 32 passes in the preseason for 192 yards, 1 touchdown, no interceptions and an 86.9 passer rating. Brissett went 5 of 14 for 36 yards, no touchdowns, one interception and a 14.6 passer rating.
The Patriots’ plan since the NFL Draft was ostensibly to start Brissett and avoid throwing Maye into the lineup right away, but the difference between them during preseason was impossible to ignore.
“What I can say is this is a real competition and Drake has outplayed Jacoby at this point,” Mayo told WEEI the day after the final practice game.
But the Patriots had to keep the big picture in mind. The Patriots have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. They don’t have a great receiving corps, although they did draft some exciting young receivers. Many good quarterback prospects have been ruined by being put in bad situations. The Patriots clearly want to be careful with Maye’s development.
Brissett is entering his ninth season and has started 48 games. He’s not the permanent answer at quarterback, but New England is hoping he looks better than he did in the preseason.
Drake Maye waits his turn
The good news for the Patriots is that Maye had some exciting moments in the preseason, showing his playmaking ability as a passer and a runner.
The Patriots received offers to trade for the third overall pick in the NFL Draft and countered, taking Maye and hopefully solving a quarterback problem they’ve had since moving on from Tom Brady. They shouldn’t regret taking Maye.
They just aren’t ready to start him in Game 1. The Patriots are expected to have a bad season and a tough schedule, so if Brissett continues to struggle as he did in the preseason, New England will have to consider when to make the move for Maye. His long-term development will be the priority.
Brissett now gets the call. It’s not exciting, but it’s the smart move.
