FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots wanted to wait. They wanted the luxury of keeping the No. 3 pick on the bench while watching a competent if less-than-sexy offense run by Jacoby Brissett.
They know what they have surrounding the quarterback on this roster isn’t great and that putting Drake Maye behind this offensive line could lead to long-term damage. That’s why they planned to keep him on the bench for as long as possible. Play good defense and play soundly on offense. That was the goal.
Neither has happened, however. The Patriots have lost four straight, offering up one of the worst offenses in the NFL thanks to one of the worst passing attacks of the last five years.
That’s why the plan has changed. That’s why Maye is now the starting quarterback and Brissett is heading to the bench.
And that’s OK. It’s OK for plans to change. It would’ve seemed foolish to continue trotting Brissett out while the more talented quarterback sat on the bench for posterity, all while asking the other 21 starters to keep giving their all in the name of pride despite their diminished chance of winning.
Had the initial plan worked, Maye could’ve learned a lot behind Brissett. That didn’t happen. As each of the last three weeks passed, it became clearer that this wasn’t Jordan Love sitting behind Aaron Rodgers or even Patrick Mahomes behind Alex Smith. This Patriots team doesn’t seem capable of winning with Brissett at quarterback. The veteran’s numbers are terrible, and it’s hard to learn when the offense is incompetent.
That’s part of why it seems Maye sensed this move could be coming.
“The biggest thing is it’s a winning league,” Maye said. “We’re sitting here at 1-4. The guys around here want to win.”
“It’s a great opportunity. Something you dream of.”@DrakeMaye2 on his first @NFL start. pic.twitter.com/IMgq6KMa5C
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 9, 2024
On Monday, coach Jerod Mayo met with his coaching staff and front office to talk about the quarterback situation. He met individually with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt even though Mayo said he made the decision to start Maye. Mayo said everyone was in agreement about what needed to happen. The coach met with each quarterback one-on-one Monday night.
“(Executive vice president of player personnel) Eliot (Wolf) and ownership, all of us were on board with the change,” Mayo said. “(Van Pelt) was fully on board. Once again, it goes back to who gives us the best chance to win this week.”
It’s also fair to acknowledge that how a cleat falls in the final minute of a game can change players’ fortunes in this league. Brissett struggled again Sunday, going 18-for-34 passing for 160 yards, but if Ja’Lynn Polk drags his toes or gets both feet down for a touchdown at the end of the game, the Patriots beat the Dolphins and Brissett probably remains the starter.
Brissett has a 58.5 completion percentage, is averaging only 5.1 yards per throw and has just two touchdowns to go with a pick six. So the Patriots needed a change even while conceding that the offensive line isn’t set up well to protect a rookie quarterback.
But that’s nothing new for Maye. Over his two years as the starter at North Carolina, he faced more pressure than any other quarterback in college football, according to ESPN Research.
Now the Patriots will tweak some of what they do on offense while keeping the general scheme in place. They’ll likely use more shotgun and lean on more run-pass options and bootlegs that get Maye on the move.
“It’s hard to put a percentage on how much the offense will change,” Mayo said. “What I will say is we have core concepts that all of the quarterbacks have to know how to go out there and execute. With that being said, his athleticism definitely opens up more plays.”
The other critique for the quarterback change — after playing him behind this struggling O-line — is that the Patriots are putting Maye in a tough spot, having to debut against a good Houston Texans team led by DeMeco Ryans. They could’ve justified playing Maye against a bad Dolphins team last week (an easier matchup for Maye) or saved him for a bad Jacksonville Jaguars team next week in London.
One could argue they’re throwing him to the wolves against the Texans.
“I would say there’s never a perfect time to make a change,” Mayo countered. “Every defense that we play … they all have the ability to rush and get after the quarterback. So, I don’t think there’s ever a perfect time. What I will say is we’re familiar with this defense. We’ve seen it, and he’s prepared for this defense as if he was the starter. I just felt like this was the right time to do it.”
Maye said he felt ready to become the starter and is excited for his first start. He’ll bring family into town for the game and admitted he’ll probably feel a little nervous at the start.
Before this week, the Patriots were in the somewhat awkward position of trying to develop Maye while limiting him to backup snaps. Mayo said a starting quarterback usually gets around 95 percent of the practice reps. But over the last five weeks, Brissett got around 70 percent while Maye got 30 percent.
In that time, Maye slowly progressed, players and coaches said. He was outplaying Brissett by the end of training camp and has only improved, Mayo said.
“I would say Drake’s a smart guy, and we saw that throughout the draft process,” Mayo said. “As far as understanding the offense, the language and just his overall football IQ, I think that continues to improve. … His work ethic (is) out of this world, and studying the playbook and trying to get those reps. He continues to get better each and every day. Physically, look, this guy definitely gives us a chance to kind of get some of those off-schedule plays that you guys always see on TV.”
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(Photo: Adam Glanzman / Getty Images)
