“If he’s better than Jacoby (Brissett), then he’ll play. He’ll play from the start.”
This quote from New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo came after the team’s 14-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night. Mayo reiterated his willingness to use rookie quarterback Drake Maye instead of Jacoby Brissett if the third overall draft pick performs better than the veteran.
Maye was undoubtedly the better player on Thursday. The North Carolina native played the second and third quarters, completing six of his 11 passes for 47 yards and scoring a rushing touchdown for his first NFL TD. Two incomplete passes came on long passes that should have been caught, including a beautiful throw downfield to fellow rookie Javon Baker.
Brissett was the starter but struggled, completing 3 of 7 passes for 17 yards, with a pass intended for tight end Austin Hooper being brutally intercepted in the end zone.
With just one preseason game left, Maye’s performance may have given Mayo pause for thought ahead of the season opener. Is it time to hand Maye the keys to the offense?
Mike Felger of 98.5 The Sports Hub and Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston shared their reactions to Thursday’s game on Boston Sports Tonight.
“I look at what our listeners and our callers are going to say,” Felger said. “Hey, listen, we’re a talk show and we’re men of the people, so people are going to ask, ‘Why isn’t that kid playing more? Why is he so far behind Jacoby Brissett? Why do I have to watch Jacoby Brissett jumping around in the pocket and throwing interceptions in the end zone that make your eyes bleed when the kid actually looked pretty good?’
“Look, I’m not saying this because I have patience with young quarterbacks. I don’t need the kid to play early, but I’m just telling you, if you were just watching in a bar, if you were just watching from 10 feet away and you weren’t fully into it, you saw that interception and then you saw Drake Maye come in, complete a third-and-5 and then you saw him throw a couple long balls that didn’t complete or should have completed, they were good balls. … I guarantee you people are going to start putting the pressure on and saying, ‘Sorry, why isn’t he playing?'”
Curran agrees that fans will rightly question the decision to select Brissett over Maye.
“They probably should,” he said in response to Felger. “It’s going to come back to development. It’s also going to come back to the 10-and-2 safety of the entire offense while it’s in the hands of Jacoby Brissett. And it’s going to be hard to convince people of that because they’re never going to get a head-to-head comparison. You look at the Eagles’ twos against Brissett in general, and certainly against Drake Maye.”
Although Felger isn’t convinced Maye can fix the Patriots’ seemingly dysfunctional offense, he’s encouraged by his performance.
“I came in and said what we desperately need is some insight from Drake Maye that makes us believe, ‘OK, there’s something there. There’s something worth waiting for if we’re waiting for it, and there’s hope. Just give us something.’ And I think that’s what he gave us,” Felger said.
The Patriots have a 1-1 preseason record heading into their final game against the Washington Commanders, which is scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. ET on August 25.
Watch the whole Boston Sports Tonight Segment with Felger and Curran below or on YouTube:
