Thursday night saw both Patriots quarterbacks struggle. Drake Maye finished the lopsided loss, but Jacoby Brissett was in place for much of the game. New England will stick with the veteran moving forward. 
“Jacoby is our quarterback until I say he’s not the quarterback,” head coach Jerod Mayo confirmed during a Friday press conference (video link). “I thought last night, he showed a lot of toughness, a lot of grit. On protection breakdowns, tried to do what we asked him to do. But I would say, just as a team, as a coaching staff, we’ve just got to be better.”
The Patriots managed just 139 yards of offense, scoring three points. Brissett completed 12 of 18 pass attempts, but he totaled only 98 yards while taking five sacks. Maye logged 16 snaps in relief, but he took a pair of sacks and completed half of his eight passes. In the wake of a struggle along the offensive line in particular, it comes as no surprise Brissett will remain atop the depth chart for now.
Mayo did add, however, that the team’s practice rep allocation will remain the same moving forward. As a result, Maye will continue to take roughly 30% of the snaps with the first-team offense. As Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer noted prior to yesterday’s game, the first-round rookie has shared reps with both the first-team unit and the scout team in addition to side work with quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney (video link). Maye’s development is a key priority for the 2024 season, and the No. 3 pick drew praise from Mayo for his training camp and preseason showings before a final decision on the team’s starting quarterback was made.
Brissett got the nod for the QB1 spot to start the year, but the expectation has remained that Maye will take over at some point during the campaign. Patience while the team’s offensive line and skill position corps develops is a sensible approach for the Patriots, though, and Brissett is a familiar passer to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Hired after a strong push was made to bring Nick Caley back into the organization under the OC title, Van Pelt will be counted on as a key figure in Maye’s acclimation to the NFL. That process will continue to take place in a backup capacity for the time being.
No sense in switching to Maye now when the Patriots are having such major problems in pass protection. It wasn’t just the line either. There were running backs whiffing completely on blitz pickups.
After yesterday’s abyssal performance, I think this is the right decision. This team still lacks cohesiveness on the OL, and explosive playmakers. If you run out Maye you are punting the season and making it a ‘development year’. Brissett is a pro and a veteran and can navigate the storm this year. I think they’ll most likely turn to Maye after their bye week in Week 14, which allows them to have four full games of Maye’s tape to evaluate. You’re not going to go out and trade for anyone worth while, so might as well ride with Brissett until you are confident Maye is ready and can step in.
it’s all about the trenches… until the OLine is legit you don’t throw your deer-eyed rookie out there
David Carr approves this message!
Can’t start Drake Maye with that O line, that’s just setting him up to fail, let ‘ol Brissett take those hits and save the good QB til they straighten that out
Exactly, they paid Jacoby millions of dollars to knowingly take a beating week in and week out. He signed up for it and knows his role.