FOXBORO – If Drake Maye can outperform Jacoby Brissett over the final three and a half weeks of the season, he will start in Week 1 whether or not there are any problems on the offensive line.
That was the message from head coach Jerod Mayo on Thursday night when asked if he had any concerns about starting Maye, the third overall pick in the 2024 draft, behind an offensive line that may not give him enough playing time.
“For me, it’s always about competition, and that goes for all positions. Even if Drake beats Jacoby (Brissett), he’s earned that role. And we don’t really take that into account, when he’s ready, and if he’s better than Jacoby, then he’ll play; he’ll start,” Mayo said.
It’s still unlikely that Maye will start ahead of Brissett in Week 1, but the competition between the two quarterbacks is at least closer after Thursday night’s 14-13 loss. Brissett struggled, completing 3 of 7 passes for 17 yards and an interception in three offensive series, while Maye caused some excitement as a substitute.
Maye’s passing stats look mediocre – he completed 6 of 11 passes for 47 yards – but he delivered a perfect long ball that rookie wide receiver Javon Baker couldn’t hold onto as he fell to the ground, and the rookie QB carried the ball four times for 15 yards and scored a touchdown after a well-executed zone read.
Mayo was impressed with his young QB.
“He was very composed. I thought it was a good drive. I thought he went out there and did a lot of good things,” Mayo said. “Hopefully he can build on that and we’ll see how this week goes.”
Maye has not played a single game for the first team in the three weeks of training camp. His only appearances behind the Patriots’ still uncoordinated offensive line were in his two preseason games.
The Patriots practice Saturday, Sunday and Monday before having an off day on Tuesday. They then practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before playing a walk-through game on Saturday and their third and final preseason game in Washington against the Commanders on Sunday.
Then the Patriots will trim their roster and begin preparing for Week 1 against the Bengals, so at that point there won’t be much time left for Maye to overtake Brissett on the QB depth chart. But after Maye looked better and showed more composure in a game situation than he did in practice, it might finally be worth making this a real competition and giving Maye more snaps behind the starting offensive line in practice.
“One of the reasons we drafted Drake was because you could tell in the interview process that he’s a balanced guy,” Mayo said. “I think you can probably see that from the stands. This guy doesn’t get too high and doesn’t get too low. That’s how he was in college. He was probably like that as a kid. He’s still like that now, which is a good thing for a quarterback. These guys have to keep their composure, get the call to the huddle and get the other guys out of the huddle, get them ready to go. In my eyes, he’s always been that way.”
