Drake Maye Or Jacoby Brissett? Patriots’ Jerod Mayo Gives Candid Answer

The Patriots eventually will have to choose either Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye to take the opening snap of their Week 1 contest with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Brissett is the current leader in the clubhouse to earn that role, but there's plenty of practice time left for Maye to find his way back into the competition. What if they're on a level playing field when it's time to suit up on Sept. 8, though?

New England head coach Jerod Mayo addressed the "tough question" Monday, giving an open and honest answer.

"I think at that point, you have to go with NFL experience," Mayo said in an appearance on "Up & Adams" with Kay Adams. "You have to go with Jacoby in that instance."

Maye has a long way to go before matching Brissett and appeared to be headed in the wrong direction Monday. The rookie completed just 3-of-11 passes in competitive periods, while Brissett (12-of-17), Bailey Zappe (3-for-4) and Joe Milton III (4-for-5) all had better days in terms of completion percentage.

Mayo would obviously be delighted if Maye turned things around enough to make this thing a serious competition, but experience will always give Brissett the upper hand.

"Out here on the field, you can script everything," Mayo said. "You have a controlled environment, and when I talk about pro-ready, it's the off-schedule plays. It's being able to pull the nose up on the plane as it's going down. Those are the things that I think about when I say, 'pro-ready.' It's the way they approach the game, and obviously Jacoby has experience, but Drake is approaching the game the right way. We'll have to see."

Brissett hasn't been shy about telling folks he wants to not only earn but keep the Patriots' starting job for as long as possible.

"Two things can be true: I can be perfect for the situation, but also, I'm the perfect guy to start, too," Brissett said on "Up & Adams." "Don't take away from it either. I fully expect myself to be the starter as long as I am here."

Maye will obviously be given a chance at some point, but it might not come for quite a while.