Patriots coach non-committal on starting QB after Drake Maye makes NFL debut

Jacoby Brissett was beaten, harassed and frustrated all night by the New York Jets' swarming defense.

The veteran Patriots quarterback was then replaced by rookie Drake Maye, who made his NFL debut at the end of a lackluster 24-3 loss on Thursday night.

It all left some uncertainty about who will be in central New England going forward.

“I don't know,” coach Jerod Mayo said. “We talk about it every week that you're competing for a job. We'll get together as a coaching staff and see what happens.”

The Patriots (1-2) could keep Brissett, 31, who is primarily viewed as a backup to Maye. Or New England could get the third overall pick on the field to start a little sooner than expected. The Patriots play at San Francisco next Sunday.

“I don't make any personnel decisions,” Brissett said. “My job is to go out there and get ready to play.”

Asked what he thought about Mayo saying he wasn't sure he could make a change at quarterback, Brissett declined to fuel any speculation.

“I'm not going to overreact to something I didn't hear,” he said. “He told me he was going in. I'm not going to argue.”

Brissett completed 12 of 18 passes for just 98 yards and was sacked five times before being pulled with 4:24 left in the game.

“I'm a big guy. I can take it,” Brissett said of all the hits he took. “I always get up. Finding ways to make plays, that's the important thing. It's football. You're supposed to get hit. You don't sign up for this sport to not get hit.”

Maye came in and moved the Patriots' offense down the field on their final drive. The former North Carolina star completed 4 of 8 passes for 22 yards and was sacked twice, the last of which ended the game.

“I thought it was a good opportunity for him to get out there with the first-team offense and make some plays,” Mayo said. “We'll watch the film and evaluate.”

Another thing Mayo must consider is the state of the Patriots' banged-up offensive line.

Starting left tackle Vederian Lowe (knee) and left guard Sidy Sow (ankle) did not play after both were ruled out earlier in the week. Center David Andrews (hip) and right tackle Mike Onwenu (wrist) played after being listed as questionable.

Against the Jets, left tackle Caedan Wallace (Lowe's starter) and left guard Michael Jordan (Sow's starter) did not finish the game after getting injured in the fourth quarter.

“I think the offensive line struggled today,” Mayo said. “There were times early in the game where the pockets looked pretty clean. As the game went on, just like last week (against Seattle), it started to fall apart as far as protection goes.”

New England was manhandled by the New York defense, and then Aaron Rodgers tore through the Patriots on long drives all night.

New York finished with 400 yards to New England's 139 and had 27 first downs to the Patriots' 11.

“It was bad. Bad in every phase,” Andrews said. “We didn't play the way we wanted to play. They dictated what we wanted to do. Hats off to them. They had a good game plan and they played a lot better than we did tonight.”

Report from The Associated Press.

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