The Patriots will once again play their starters for Sunday’s preseason finale against the Commanders, head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters in his Friday press conference.
As it relates to the quarterbacks, No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye is set to be the second one in.
“Jacoby [Brissett] is going to start the game off,” Mayo said. “Drake will play as well. Joe [Milton II] will play as well. Now, you guys can sleep. Bailey [Zappe] will play. We do have some players dealing with small things that probably won’t play and get ready for the regular season — some of our proven players.”
While it seems like Brissett will remain New England’s starting quarterback when the regular season begins, Mayo touted one area where the rookie has made strides on Friday.
“If you guys remember early on, he would throw interceptions and he would get so down on himself,” Mayo said. “I would say now, as we exit camp, he’s done a lot better job being able to pull the nose up on the plane when it seems like it’s going down. I think that’s an important quality.”
The other two things Mayo is looking for in a QB are mental toughness and competitiveness.
“I can’t sit here and tell you, unless it’s like a Philip Rivers release, where, ‘Man, that release is kind of weird.’ I don’t get into the technical stuff,” Mayo said. “For me, evaluating a quarterback or any other player, but especially the quarterback, they have to be mentally tough, and they have to be able to bounce back from all the adversity that they’re bound to see.”
So far this preseason, Brissett is 3-of-10 for 17 yards with an interception. Maye is 8-of-14 for 66 yards.