Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said that Drake Maye outplayed Jacoby Brissett in the preseason, but that wasn’t enough for the first-round pick to win the starting quarterback job in New England.
According to multiple reports, Mayo told the team at a Thursday meeting that Brissett will be the starter against the Bengals in the season opener. That’s not a great surprise given the prevailing belief all offseason that Maye’s limited experience as a starter in college and the makeup of the Patriots offensive roster would make Brissett the choice, but the last few weeks provided some reason to think the Patriots might go the other way.
They will go to Maye at some point because you don’t pick players third overall for them to remain on the bench. The timing of that move will likely be based on multiple things and the play of the team’s offensive line will likely be at the top of the list. The group struggled all summer and the Patriots won’t want to subject Maye to weekly poundings if they can avoid it, although Brissett’s shoulder injury in the preseason finale shows that won’t be the easiest balancing act.
Those are questions for the future, though. The present belongs to Brissett and we’re a little more than a week away from seeing how that will play out for the NFC East club.