Jacoby Brissett is looking forward to being on the field for the Patriots’ season opener against the Bengals.
Despite rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s strong performance on Sunday, Brissett told WEEI on Tuesday that he sees himself as the QB1 in New England’s lineup.
“In my opinion, I’m in (from Week 1),” Brissett said. “I haven’t heard anything different. So I have to assume that.”
Brissett, who is making his second start with the Patriots, played just one drive during his team’s final preseason game on Sunday after suffering a shoulder injury, but he insisted he is “100 percent fine.”
“It’s good,” Brissett said over his shoulder. “I think it was more of a precautionary measure… I’m feeling good. I hadn’t been hit in eight months, so it surprised me more than anything. I’m feeling good, excited and ready for the season.”
After being the presumptive starter for the entire preseason, Maye may have stolen his job. Maye was the third pick in this year’s draft and once again had a strong performance against the Commanders, throwing for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Jerod Mayo, head coach of the Patriots, indicated that thanks to the rookie’s performance, there would now be tougher competition for the quarterback position on his team.
“I want to say this is a real competition … and I would say Drake has outperformed Jacoby at this point,” Mayo said Monday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.” “Now we have to take into account all the work that went back to the spring and the start of training camp and we’ll see where we land. But those are the conversations that are going to happen here over the next few days.”
Brissett, 31, hasn’t been quite as impressive, completing 5 of 14 passes for 36 yards and one interception in three preseason appearances.
