It's official: Jacoby Brissett is the Patriots starting quarterback, head coach Jerod Mayo announced Thursday.
Although third-overall pick Drake Maye is progressing, New England is sticking with its plan to bring Maye along slowly. When the Patriots signed Brissett as a free agent in March, Mayo and personnel chief Eliot Wolf had a vision, with Brissett as a bridge and mentor to the 21-year-old rookie. Eventually, the Patriots will turn the offense over to Maye. But, for now, Mayo explained the team's thought process for tabbing Brissett as the starter.
"I have decided that Jacoby Brissett will be our starting quarterback this season," head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters on Thursday. "As an organization, we are 100% behind Jacoby...I had an opportunity to talk to Drake [Maye], I had an opportunity to talk to Jacoby separately and also together, and I feel like we are all on the same page from an organizational perspective."
"There are a lot of factors that led to this choice. The hard part is thinking in the short term and the long term at the same time," Mayo said.
The Patriots head coach added that he didn't want to get into "hypotheticals" about possibly turning to Maye later in the season, saying, "We can't go into the season saying [Brissett] is going to go 'X' amount of weeks. As long as Jacoby is going out there and performing in the way we all have confidence in him doing, he'll be our quarterback this season."
Last week, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, the lead voice in Maye's development, spoke about Maye's progress. One area Van Pelt gave Brissett the edge in was problem-solving defenses at the line of scrimmage, which comes with the experience of a nine-year vet.
"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," Van Pelt said.
"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 concluded.
Maye has shown off his elite physical traits in the preseason, but the Patriots will face multiple playoff-caliber defenses out of the gate. Solving Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo's scheme is a different beast than playing backups in the preseason. Brissett, on the other hand, beat the Bengals in a 32-13 win as the Browns starter in 2022. Brissett led Cleveland to victory with 278 passing yards, two total touchdowns, and an outstanding 82.0 total QBR.
Now, it's totally understandable that some fans want to see the third-overall pick play. However, the Patriots need to look at the bigger picture of where they are offensively heading into the first season of the Mayo-Wolf era. On Wednesday, Mayo eluded there being several factors here.
"It's important to remember what's good for the team today may not be good for the team weeks down the line. So, I think the challenge is you want to win every single game now, but also, we're trying to build something special here in New England," Mayo told reporters.
With the current state of the offensive line, it's fair to fear that Maye would be under siege early in the season. Pressure on young quarterbacks can lead to sped-up decisions and developing bad habits. Maye's footwork and mechanics have come a long way, and he's progressing faster than some expected. However, if he's constantly managing pressure and can't run the full playbook because the coaches are scheming around pressure, Maye's live in-game reps might not be as valuable.
Instead, the Patriots are being patient. Hopefully, that means their progress with Maye won't be stunted, while New England can revisit the conversation about Maye starting once they know how things look offensively. While taking the patient approach at quarterback, the Patriots coaches can learn about their offense's strengths and weaknesses. What style can they play effectively to win on offense? Most importantly, who are their best five along the offensive line?
Van Pelt should use the beginning of the season as an information-gathering expedition. Then, once things settle down, New England can make the switch to Maye. As frustrating as it is that the talented rookie can't play sooner, it's easy to see why the Patriots are taking this approach.
When the Patriots open the regular season a week from Sunday, it'll be Brissett vs. Joe Burrow and the Bengals in Cincinnati.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
