How Jerod Mayo Addressed Critcism Of Drake Maye’s Debut Date

The Patriots made a bold quarterback change this week, and fans had mixed reactions to the move.

Jerod Mayo confirmed Wednesday that Drake Maye would be the starting quarterback. The rookie gets his first start against the Houston Texans, which will be a tough test for an offensive line lacking in talent.

That lack of talent is why some fans don’t want the rookie thrown out there so soon, but it was a decision Mayo made and the rest of the organization agreed to.

“I mean, look, every team, even this early in the season, is still trying to figure out who they have, what they are as an organization and their identity,” Mayo told reporters, per a team-provided transcript. “What I would say, look, we’re good with Drake. Every team doesn’t have a, let’s say, a ‘one’ receiver or ‘one’ running back. They don’t have those kinds of things, but I would say that Drake is going to make us a better football team today and going forward.”

Mayo hopes Maye can elevate the offense as the head coach’s past comments hinted at blame on Jacoby Brissett despite injuries to the offensive line and lack of quality skill position players. It’s hard to imagine those deficiencies getting better, but some fans wanted New England to wait until it did.

“I would say there’s never a perfect time to make a change,” Mayo said. “Every defense that we play, whether it’s the defensive ends or the defensive tackles, 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 this defense, we’re familiar with the 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 was excited to get out on the field and prove the detractors wrong about the team. His teammates were just as excited about the rookie signal-caller’s talent as he hopes to get the Patriots out of their losing streak.