Is Drake Maye Ready To Lead Patriots’ Offense In Week 1?

Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo made it perfectly clear in July that Jacoby Brissett was the intended choice as New England’s starting quarterback in its Week 1 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 8.

Has training camp and the Patriots preseason games changed the first-year coach’s mind?

NESN’s George Balekji and Natalie Noury broke down Mayo’s recent comments on the “Boston Has Entered The Chat” after the first-year head coach reopened the door on the quarterback competition after the Patriots’ preseason win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 15 and again on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday.

“He’s opened the door,” Balekji told Noury about Mayo. “I even said when he declared Jacoby the starter, I said, ‘No duh. He’s the best professional quarterback. He’s the best NFL-level quarterback that knows how to run the system and just get this offense from point A to point B each and every week. It’s not about winning right now because this roster is far from that.

“But then we saw the flashes that Drake Maye showed against the Eagles. An absolute dime of a pass, 55 yards down the field, dropped by Javon Baker, so it goes down as an incompletion, but the flick of the wrist showed out his arm talent.”

Balekji said the only way to see the full progress Maye has made during the past couple of months is for Mayo to give his rookie signal-caller the reps with the first string. Noury didn’t necessarily agree with the co-host.

“I think Drake Maye has shown some promise, of course,” Noury said. “We’ve seen some great plays by him, but I personally think he might need to see a little more football for us to start considering him to start in that Week 1 position.”

Noury feels the Patriots still need to take their time with Maye, allow him to develop and not throw him “to the wolves.”

Balekji added that regardless of whether Mayo is ready to hand the reins to Maye, the decision is not his alone, and a lot of it rests on how well the offensive line plays in front of either Brissett or Maye.

To hear what else Balekji and Noury had to say about New England’s quarterback competition, you can watch the clip above and tune into the full episode on YouTube and Spotify.

Who would be your Week 1 starter for the Patriots? Sound off in the comments below.