Jerod Mayo says Jacoby Brissett 'still our starting quarterback' despite Drake Maye's debut in loss to Jets
In the midst of a crushing loss to the New York Jets on Thursday night, the New England Patriots had a brief glimpse of the future when Jerod Mayo pulled veteran starter Jacoby Brissett from the game and inserted first-round rookie Drake Maye under center. Technically, this wasn't a benching for Brissett as the game was out of reach and Maye entered the fray in garbage timeBut it was enough of an opening to wonder if a changing of the guard at quarterback is on the horizon.
However, when asked the morning after the loss if there was a change in status at quarterback, Mayo noted that Brissett will remain QB1 until Week 4 when New England travels to Santa Clara to face the San Francisco 49ers.
“Jacoby is our quarterback until I say he's not,” Mayo said as he began his news conference. “I thought he showed a lot of toughness last night, a lot of determination. On the protection lapses, he tried to do what we asked him to do, but I would say as a team, as a coaching staff, we just have to be better.”
He added: “Look, everything is always under evaluation, but just to be clear, Jacoby is still our starting quarterback until I say he's not.”
New England's offense struggled mightily in this 24-3 loss to the Jets. Brissett completed 12 of his 18 pass attempts, but for just 98 yards. While he wasn't prolific through the air, the blame for the Patriots' stagnation doesn't fall solely on Brissett. The veteran was under siege from the jump playing behind a depleted offensive line and was sacked a total of five times in the loss.
Maye, the third overall pick in the 2024 draft NFL DraftHe entered the game with less than five minutes left in regulation, completed four of his eight throws for 22 yards and was sacked twice.
“He's another player that has athletic ability,” Mayo said when asked to evaluate Maye's performance. “He can make all the throws. Coming off the bench at that point is always tough, no matter what position, but especially at quarterback. I thought he handled himself well and tried to put together a series and something to build off of. I thought it was a good opportunity for him to go out there and get some live reps.”
Last week, Mayo revealed that Maye has been receiving roughly 30% of the first-team reps during practices while Brissett takes on the remaining 70% as the starter. The first-year coach was asked on Friday whether or not that could change as Maye is seeing an even bigger increase in reps to potentially prepare him for a promotion to QB1.
“Right now, I would say we're still at the status quo,” Mayo said. “I've said it before: Jacoby is still our starting quarterback and we just have to be prepared to support him. … So, to answer your question, that's not under consideration right now.”
This latest loss to the Jets leaves New England with a 1-2 record on the season after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in the Week 1 opener and then falling to the Seattle Seahawks in overtime on Sunday.
