Patriots Clearly Rallying Around Jacoby Brissett After Ugly Loss

The Patriots haven't made things easy for Jacoby Brissett.

New England got crushed in their matchup with the New York Jets on Thursday, putting forth one of its ugliest efforts in recent memory -- particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Brissett was pressured on more than half of his dropbacks, took several big hits and was sacked a total of five times.

How did they protect him in the first two weeks?

Brissett entered Thursday with the second-highest pressure rate (44%) among QBs while having already been sacked four times. It's been an abject disaster.

The Patriots know it has been bad, so they have no problem tossing some flowers toward their beleaguered veteran quarterback.

"That's a soldier right there," Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas said postgame, per team-provided transcript. "Taking hits and getting up, he's going out there fired up. That's the definition of a soldier right there. They get up and they push through the hard times."

"We gonna need him," Keion White said, per Mike Giardi of Boston Sports Journal. "Everybody write Jacoby off. Not me. I think he's a guy that can get it done."

New England took Brissett out of harm's way toward the back end of the lopsided loss, giving Drake Maye the final offensive series to try and muster up some positive momentum. Does that mean we're about to see a QB change? No, probably not, though the door was left open.

The Patriots would be wise to listen to their young leaders, keeping the 31-year-old under center while making necessary scheme and personnel changes to keep him alive back there. It's not time for Maye... not yet.