Before officially selecting Jacoby Brissett to be the Patriots’ starting quarterback to open the season, head coach Jerod Mayo made a comment that raised some eyebrows.
During an Aug. 26 appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show, Mayo noted that rookie quarterback Drake Maye had “outplayed” Brissett. But Mayo also said that the team had to look at everything when deciding on a QB.
In a Tuesday morning interview with the same program, Mayo cleaned some of that up as the club now prepares to face the Bengals on Sunday.
“I should have given more context to the comment at the time,” Mayo said, via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. “Drake had more playing time in the preseason than Jacoby, and that was intentional.”
Maye completed 21-of-34 preseason passes for 192 yards with a touchdown. While Brissett had just 14 passing attempts, he completed only five of them and had an interception.
As a No. 3 overall pick, Maye figures to play sooner or later. But Mayo doesn’t want to rush the young quarterback into action, so Maye will get plenty of time to develop inside the building.
“We talk about, not only in the game, but also in practices, getting those mental reps, and he’ll know what every play is,” Mayo said. “He’ll make his checks and stuff on the sideline and continue to develop that way. And he’ll develop through practice. He’ll get reps [still] with the first team and also the show team.”
Either way, Mayo is not setting a public expectation for when Maye might be ready to take over as QB1. Brissett’s play could also determine some of that timeline.
“If you’re not playing well, if he’s not giving the best chance to win games, no matter the position, then we have to look at different options,” Mayo said. “And I think that’s healthy stress. I think that’s healthy competition.”