The New England Patriots were blown out badly enough on Thursday night that Drake Maye got to make his NFL regular-season debut, but that does not mean a starting quarterback change is coming in Week 4.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo was asked on Friday morning if Brissett is still the team’s starter following an ugly 24-3 loss to the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Mayo said he remains committed to Brissett and said the Patriots need to get better as a whole.
“Jacoby is our quarterback until I say he’s not the quarterback,” Mayo said, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “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.”
That response was different from what Mayo said in his postgame press conference on Thursday night, when he seemingly left the door open for a QB change.
“I don’t know. We talk about it every single week, you’re competing for a job,” Mayo told reporters at MetLife Stadium. “We’ll get together as a coaching staff and see where it goes.”
Asked about a potential change at quarterback moving forward, Jerod Mayo says:
“I don't know. We talk about it every single week, you're competing for a job. We’ll get together as a coaching staff and see where it goes.”
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) September 20, 2024
Brissett finished 12/19 for just 98 yards against the Jets. He had 149 passing yards in last week’s 23-20 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks and 121 yards in New England’s Week 1 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Brissett has just one touchdown, though he has not thrown an interception.
Even if Mayo and his coaching staff felt Maye could do a better job than Brissett, the Patriots’ offensive line is a complete disaster at the moment. The last thing they want to do is risk having Maye get injured or shake the first-round pick’s confidence.
The Patriots have used a very surprising practice tactic with Maye, and Mayo said that will continue going forward. A quarterback change seems inevitable at some point this season, but it does not sound like it is coming in Week 4.
