The Patriots are facing a difficult conundrum coming off their preseason finale, with head coach Jerod Mayo announcing his starting quarterback for Week 1 vs. the Bengals in the coming days.

As Mayo told Boston radio station WEEI on Monday morning, third-overall pick Drake Maye has "outplayed" veteran bridge QB/mentor Jacoby Brissett this preseason. With a strong push in the last two weeks, Maye has made Mayo's decision difficult. At several points in the offseason and camp, the team viewed Brissett as its clear-cut Week 1 starter and wanted to bring Maye along slowly, allowing the 21-year-old rookie to develop behind the scenes.

Mayo called Maye the "second-best quarterback on the roster" as recently as his post-game remarks following Sunday night's preseason finale, and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt has also said he views Brissett as the team's best option at quarterback for Week 1.

Last week, Van Pelt, the lead voice in Maye's development, told reporters that Brissett is the Patriots starter. When asked why, Van Pelt said, "There's certain things in this offense that Jacoby, having played in this offense, understands some of the tools that you can use to get out of certain situations, pressure situations, things like that. Drake is still learning."

"The hardest position in sports is a quarterback, and especially for a rookie guy coming in and not seeing all the defenses that they're going to see in the NFL, it's tough. It's hard to transition, and it takes a little bit of time. We're going to be as patient as we can with that process," Van Pelt added.

Although we haven't spoken to Van Pelt since Maye went 13-for-20 for 126 yards and a touchdown in 21 drop-backs vs. the Commanders on Sunday night, it's hard to imagine one game changed his mind about the path the Patriots should take. As for Mayo, the stats and the film don't lie, and neither did the Pats HC. Their reps aren't equal because of who they played with and against, but Maye has played better in the preseason than Brissett. Plus, the rookie had a strong final week-plus of practice to end camp with the arrow pointing upward.

With that said, here's the question for Mayo and company: is Maye ready, and are the Patriots ready for Maye? With a starting offensive line that got called for eight penalties in a half against the Commanders backups, Maye is not entering the most stable environment. Furthermore, Maye is still learning certain nuances about playing the position at this level.

For example, Maye had more issues in Sunday night's preseason finale with getting out from underneath center, from fumbling snaps to losing a shoe because he was late getting out and stepped on left guard Sidy Sow's foot. On this film, he also was drifting in the pocket at times, which can invite pressure, and he'll miss the occasional layup like most rookies.

As the Pats offensive coordinator said, Maye will also face more sophisticated defenses in the regular season. This is not to say Maye can't overcome those things and play well, but when you pair them with the state of the offensive line, the Patriots should proceed with caution.

Some will read this as me flip-flopping on Maye. I'm not. He still has an extremely bright future, and his ceiling is a superstar franchise quarterback. My brain, maybe like Mayo and Van Pelt, goes in two directions with the pros and cons of starting Maye. The sit Maye voice on my left shoulder sees his fixable but still needs correcting mechanics, which gives me pause about him replicating his preseason success against stiffer defenses in the regular season under these circumstances.

For example, many felt good about Mac Jones's performance in the regular-season opener vs. the Eagles last year. Jones threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns, coming up just short of upsetting the defending NFC champs last September. However, in this space, you read about the early warning signs that Mac was starting to break mentally and mechanically, throwing off his back foot and looking sped up by pressure.

Although a part of me worries about Maye's development going awry if he's still working on things in a poor situation, another part of me remembers that the 6-foot-4, 225-pound rookie is a different beast. Mac needed to be razor-sharp on the details because he didn't have the physical tools to develop bad habits, but Maye might be in that category of elite throwers who are so gifted that it doesn't matter.

Here is where the President of the Maye 2024 campaign returns with some lofty comparisons. When you watch Maye, and this might be because he's being coached in the same system by a former Packers QB coach, some of the things he does are reminiscent of a young Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers would throw from unorthodox bases and arm angles without losing control of the ball, and Maye's playing style has some similarities – some kids just get to break the rules.

For the Patriots coaching staff, predicting how Maye will react to turbulence is challenging. It sounds like Maye has won Mayo over with his poise, competitiveness, and playmaking ability. As a former player, it makes sense that Mayo would want to play with the most talented passer on the roster. However, Van Pelt sees a young rookie still in the developmental stages of his career that shouldn't be rushed into action.

As long as Brissett is healthy, my guess is the Patriots will stick with their development plan for Maye and have him watch and learn for a while. If they feel he's one of those kids to whom the rules don't apply, Maye's late-summer push might've won him the job.

Here are some more big-picture thoughts on the offense and quick-hit film notes from the Patriots preseason finale After Further Review:

How Bad was the Patriots Offensive Line Really vs. the Commanders?

Following the game on Sunday night, I had a similar shell-shocked feeling about the offensive line as most did after the Eagles defensive front dominated a joint practice earlier in camp.

How could they possibly put a rookie quarterback behind a line that can't even line up correctly? An offensive line that already got the current starter hurt in a preseason game vs. backups. No shot they could play Maye now. Well, how bad was it really?

After reviewing the tape, it's sort of "other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln" type stuff, but the penalties were the lion's share of the problem. Eight penalties in a half, including four for their top two OTs lining up illegally, is egregious, and the calls on Okorafor and Onwenu were legit. With that said, Brissett and Maye were only pressured on seven of their 26 drop-backs on Sunday night, or a modest 26.9%, and three of them were on Okorafor. The Pats gained 37 rushing yards on eight attempts in the first half for a 62.5% success rate, which is solid.

The snaps were an issue at times, but that should take care of itself when captain David Andrews is at center in Week 1. The protections also run through the center in this system, so Andrews could make a huge difference seeing that Nick Leverett isn't a center by trade.

As we said earlier, the biggest hurdle for playing Maye early, as he adjusts to regular-season defense behind a line that will have weak links, at least at left tackle, is whether he can protect himself. As AVP said, can Maye rearrange the chess board pre-snap to prevent avoidable pressure?

Although his play wasn't exactly inspiring this preseason, Brissett has some of the answers to the test due to his experience. Above, Washington brings six rushers in a man blitz. Brissett is "hot" here, with more rushers than blockers, so he looks to the back while retreating to buy time. In this instance, the Commanders bust the coverage. When they bring six, Antonio Gibson is left uncovered in the flat, and Brissett gets him the ball to convert on third down.

Maye might've ID the blitz and made a quick hot read to take advantage of a wide-open running back in the flat. He might've made the same play. It certainly wasn't anything special. Brissett makes these plays that give the coaching staff confidence in him as a short-term starter.

Speaking after Sunday night's game, I asked Maye how far along he thinks he is in playing chess against defenses to be able to check that box for Van Pelt to sign off on him playing.

"It's huge in this offense. We are out here in the preseason with some vanilla looks, especially pressure-wise. I feel like I'm a smart kid who did a lot of protection stuff in college. It was all on me and my center protection-wise, and I thought we did a good job not having free runners back there. But it's a different kind of league here now," Maye told Patriots.com.

Maye's coaches at North Carolina told me around the draft that the Patriots rookie was given the keys to the offense at the line of scrimmage in his junior season, so he has moved the chess pieces around before. However, as Maye acknowledged, this is a different level of football now.

If the Patriots decide to sit Maye initially, the biggest reason will be Brissett's overall experience and familiarity with this system to prevent even more issues on the line.

Quick-Hit Film Notes From Patriots-Commanders After Further Review

- The decision to play the offensive starters as much as HC Jerod Mayo did in the first half proved to be costly. Obviously, hindsight is always 20-20. But it's a calculated risk that didn't go in Mayo's favor this time. Brissett (right shoulder) and starting LG Sidy Sow (ankle) both sustained injuries. I also didn't like risking Pop Douglas on punt returns. I hear Mayo when he says you get better at football by playing football. But the trend around the league is to rest starters in preseason games nowadays, so this is one area where Mayo is zigging where others are zagging. Until he has some built-up equity, Mayo is going to get second-guessed.

- In the preseason, teams don't typically game-plan much. However, the Pats treated this like an in-season practice week, which showed for Maye. The crossers to Polk and Pop were clearly scripted plays that, to their credit, they executed well. FWIW, AVP's scheming has been a pleasant surprise. He has added some motion wrinkles, his play calls are timed well vs. certain coverages, and his QB-run/RPO package is intriguing. I had doubts about Van Pelt's play designs, thinking they might be outdated, but I'm intrigued.

- This was WR Ja'Lynn Polk's best game of the preseason. He ran a good route on the crosser (29 yards), made a tough catch over his head to get the Pats off their own goal line, and should've had another 13-yard catch that was wiped out by a penalty. Polk separated, was in the right places, and his 29-yard catch-and-run was really smooth – a good building block game.

- WR Javon Baker's release work was better this week; he got open at the top of the route on the comebacker from Maye and settled nicely into a zone void on a completion from Milton. Baker is still too easily derailed by physical press-man coverage, but at least there was more consistency.

- RB Antonio Gibson started with Rhamondre Stevenson taking the night off, and he mostly looked like a varsity player going against JV competition. Gibson had a drop on a bullet from Brissett that went through his hands (the pass could've been thrown with more touch), but he was the outlet Brissett needed on his 13-yard catch vs. man pressure and forced a missed tackle with 18 of his 17 rushing yards coming after contact. Gibson looks ready to go. JaMycal Hasty also ran well.

- RG Layden Robinson had a classic rookie roller coaster kind of night. Robinson made some excellent backside climbs in the Pats zone schemes and only got beat for one hurry in pass pro (club/swim). But he also blew a block in the run game, had two penalties (false start, hold), and was half responsible for the chain reaction that led to the sack on Brissett. Robinson's emergence is encouraging, and he had moments where he belonged, but starting a rookie at any position will have its ups and downs.

- TE Jaheim Bell's 16-yard reception on a crossing route from Joe Milton was another example of what the rookie can bring to the offense. Bell got matched up on a safety in man coverage and ran away from the out-leveraged defender. Bell also won twice up the seam away from the ball. His straight-line speed to win foot races showed up on this film.

- RT Mike Onwenu was his usual self when he plays right tackle: hurry allowed, one penalty for illegally lining up in the backfield, and a formidable kick-out blocker. Onwenu plays the position with a short corner. However, he's a good enough lineman to hold his own at right tackle, and if it gets the "best five" on the field, he'll have to grow into the position. Overall, Onwenu was far down the list of problems on the line, aside from the one penalty.

- The Patriots need to have a difficult discussion about LT Chuks Okorafor. He's obviously out of position on the left side, but four penalties and three QB pressures against backups is inexcusable. If Chuks needs to play on the left side, Vederian Lowe might be a better option, sending Okorafor to the bench once Lowe is healthy.

- This was a very encouraging performance for third-rounder Caedan Wallace at right tackle. Wallace allowed only one hurry and had an excellent reach-and-seal on the backside of an outside zone scheme. His hand placement was improved this week. Unfortunately, Wallace hasn't taken to switching to the left side, which puts them in a bind with Onwenu now at right tackle. However, you'd like to see both rookies play at some point, maybe with Robinson at LG, Onwenu at RG, and Wallace at RT.

- The snaps were a problem for C/G Nick Leverett, and he had some issues holding his ground when a nose tackle immediately engaged him. But, besides a tardy anchor or two, he didn't allow a pressure.

- DC DeMarcus Covington's unit didn't play much stagnant coverage in this one. Stagnant coverage is where the coverage shell doesn't change pre-to-post snap, meaning if you're showing single-high before the snap, you stay in single-high after the snap. On Sunday night, the Pats secondary was spinning the dial. Typically, aligning in a two-high safety shell and playing cover two, three-buzz, or man. Disguising coverage pre-snap is certainly not new for the Patriots.

- Keion White's second-quarter third-down sack was a snapshot of how the rush package will hopefully play out on the interior without stud DT Christian Barmore (blood clots). On the play, Daniel Ekuale wins his 1-on-1 vs. the right guard with a push-pull technique. Ekuale's pressure forced Driskell off his spot, and White closed the pocket by spinning back upfield to stay level with the quarterback. The Pats will need more of that.

- One tweak to my final roster projection after watching the film: DT Trysten Hill should make this team. Hill was the best IDL at playing his blocks in the run game in this one, recording two run stuffs with textbook technique: good pad level, strong hands, eyes through the blocker to find the ball. Hill also recorded one QB pressure. He might stick around here, but he'll find himself in the doghouse quickly if he doesn't clean up the illegal blindside block penalty. That's been an illegal hit for a few years, with Hill blocking back toward his end zone.

- Another defender who stood out in review was S Joshuah Bledsoe. Bledsoe is entering his fourth season as a late-round pick in 2021, so it feels like his chances are running out. However, he had two high-level coverage reps, including a pass breakup on a play-action seam play. Bledsoe did a nice job driving the catch point after recovering from a false step toward the line of scrimmage caused by the run fake. Then, he had an excellent zone drop in the deep hole of a cover-2 shell, where he took away two reads for the QB. Bledsoe is at his best playing at the second level. He fits the hybrid mold as a backup to Dugger and Peppers.

- DT Jeremiah Pharms has cooled slightly after a huge preseason opener (sack, six total pressures). Pharms only recorded two pressures in the last two preseason games and couldn't recover to his outside gap on a run that gained six yards. Pharms's play against the run has been so-so in the preseason. He did enough to make the team, but we'll see how large his role is moving forward.

- LB Christian Elliss quickly clicks into things in the run and screen game. His blown-up screen was impressive, and he also recorded a third-quarter run stuff by weaving around a blocker to find the football. However, you see some stiffness in space from Elliss, who allowed a team-high 45 receiving yards on seven receptions into his coverage. He's a classic downhill attack-minded linebacker who shouldn't be asked to play in space.

- Commanders QB Jeff Driskel stared down his target on LB Joe Giles-Harris's interception, but Giles-Harris did a nice job reading the quarterback's eyes. Driskel must've thought the running back's release would widen Giles-Harris out of the passing lane, but the Pats LB read the QB's eyes in his zone drop and jumped the in-breaker over the middle – good stuff.

- CBs Alex Austin (2 targets, 0 receptions), Marco Wilson (1 target, 0 receptions), and Shaun Wade (1 tgt, one rec, -3 yards) did what they needed to do on Sunday night. It's possible the Pats won't keep all seven corners, but they have the room on the roster to make it happen.

- QB pressures allowed: Turner (four hurries), Okorafor (QB hit, two hurries), Fornadel (QB hit, hurry), Sow (two hurries), Diesch (two hurries), Wallace (hurry), Robinson (hurry), Onwenu (hurry), Leverett/Jordan/Mafi/Henry (0 hurries).

- QB pressures: White (sack), Bradley-King (QB hit, two hurries), K.Jones (QB hit, hurry), Roberts (two hurries), McCarroll (QB hit), Pharms (hurry), Bledsoe (hurry), Ekuale (hurry), Hill (hurry).

- Coverage: Elliss (7 tgt, 7 rec, 45 yards), Hearn (5 tgt, 5 rec, 35 yards, TD, 2 penalties), Victor (3 tgt, 2 rec, 26 yards), Bledsoe (4 tgt, 1 rec, 25 yards, PBU), Kobe Jones (2 tgt, 2 rec, 25 yards), Bolden (4 tgt, 2 rec, 10 yards, PBU), Tavai (1 tgt, 1 rec, 10 yards), Dial (2 tgt, 1 rec, 9 yards, PBU, 2 penalties), Giles-Harris (2 tgt, 1 rec, 9 yards, INT), Jennings (1 tgt, 1 rec, 7 yards), Wade (1 tgt, 1 rec, -3 yards), Austin (2 tgt, 0 rec, 2 penalties), Russell (tgt, 0 rec), Wilson (tgt, 0 rec).

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