2024-09-21 02:45:03
FOXBORO — The Patriots are not making a change to rookie Drake Maye at quarterback. Jacoby Brissett will remain New England’s starter until Jerod Mayo says otherwise.
“Jacoby is our quarterback until I say he’s not the quarterback,” Mayo said during his video conference with reporters Friday morning. “Last night, he showed a lot of toughness and grit on protection breakdowns. As a team, as a coaching staff, we just have to be better.”
Brissett took another beating throughout New England’s 24-3 loss to the Jets on Thursday night, as he was sacked five times by the New York defense. He was pressured on more than half of his dropbacks, and threw for only 98 yards.
That’s been an ongoing theme for the Patriots over the first three weeks of the season, with the offensive line failing to protect their quarterback. With the outcome settled late in the fourth quarter, Mayo opted to send Maye out there to finish the contest.
The rookie led the Patriots downfield into the red zone, but the drive and the game ended when he took a sack on his final snap. Maye was sacked twice and hit three times on his 16 snaps.
After watching the game film and meeting with his coaching staff, Mayo and the Patriots are sticking with Brissett under center. Mayo admitted last week that Maye is getting roughly 30 percent of the snaps with New England’s starters in practice, which is an unusually high percentage for a team’s backup.
Mayo said that Maye’s practice snaps won’t be increasing as the Patriots prepare for their Week 4 game against the San Francisco 49ers.
“Right now it’s still status quo,” Mayo said of the QB reps. “Jacoby is still our starting quarterback and we have to be ready to support him. There are 11 guys out there on offense, so it’s everyone. That’s really not under consideration that this time.
“All our focus right now is to get to 2-2,” Mayo added. “Everything is always under evaluation, but just to be clear, Jacoby is still our starting quarterback until I say he’s not.”
Jerod Mayo evaluates Drake Maye’s debut
Maye had an up-and-down debut, completing four of his eight passes for 22 yards while rushing for 12 yards on a pair of scrambles. His first pass was nearly picked off, but he did make a nice throw to DeMario Douglas for 15 yards that set the Patriots up at the New York 7-yard line. A few plays prior, Maye picked up a first down with an 11-yard scamper on a fourth-and-8.
Mayo was impressed with what he saw out of the 22-year old.
“Another guy who has athleticism and he can make all the throws. Coming off the bench at that time is always tough no matter the positions, but especially at quarterback. He handled himself well and tried to put a drive together,” said Mayo. “It’s something to build off of. I thought it was a good opportunity for him to go out there and get some live reps.”
While Maye got some valuable experience on Thursday night, New England offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt believes the best development plan is to have the rookie remain on the sideline.
“I still think it’s by watching. I think there’s a lot to be learned yet, and that’s where I’ll stand on that,” Van Pelt said Friday.
“Jacoby is our starter, like Coach said. Until that changes, I think we got to do everything we can to get the starter ready to win a game [against the 49ers],” added Van Pelt.
