Jerod Mayo Pumps Brakes On Drake Maye Takeover, But We Know It’s Coming

FOXBORO, Mass. — Jerod Mayo isn’t strapping a ticking time bomb to Jacoby Brissett.

The Patriots head coach intends for Brissett to serve as New England’s starting quarterback for the 2024 NFL season — those were his words.

“We have decided — or I have decided — that Jacoby Brissett will be our starting quarterback this season,” Mayo said at Gillette Stadium on Thursday morning. “As an organization, we’re 100% behind Jacoby. There is no, ‘You got a guy right here, you got a guy right there.’ We’re 100% behind Jacoby.”

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Mayo, who took two questions during the sub-90-second press conference, was asked a follow-up regarding his phrasing of “this season.” Does that mean there is no possible way first-round rookie Drake Maye could take over for Brissett? Mayo addressed the question by doubling down in his support of Brissett.

“I don’t want to get into hypotheticals,” Mayo said. “We can’t go into the season saying ‘Well, he’s gonna go X amount of weeks.’ As long as Jacoby is going out there performing the way we all have confidence in him doing, he’ll be our quarterback this season.”

We can’t go into the season saying, ‘Well, he’s gonna go X amount of weeks.’

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Jerod Mayo on Jacoby Brissett

Mayo clearly is pumping the brakes on the eventual Maye takeover, and that’s an understandable tone in public. But we all know it’s coming.

Mayo and the Patriots made the correct decision to tab Brissett as the starting entering Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Brissett, at this current point, is the better man for the job for multiple reasons. He’s more experienced in the league and in Alex Van Pelt’s system. He’s gone up against real NFL defenses, not the cookie-cutter schemes Maye saw during the preseason.

There’s also the fact New England’s offensive line does not elicit much confidence, and it would not be wise for Maye to be thrown behind the group given he’s still a developing quarterback.

With that said, however, Maye’s improvement in training camp and the preseason was eye-catching. He showed encouraging signs as it related to his footwork, processing, accuracy, athleticism, broken-play ability, etc. The offense elevated itself when the third overall pick was behind center. It ultimately prompted Mayo himself to say that Maye outplayed Brissett in the preseason.

So while Mayo does not want to publicly keep the door open for Maye, the preseason both of them had already indicated what we all know is coming.