Patriots’ Drake Maye Shows Exponential Growth In This Area

The New England Patriots are at the bottom of the AFC East with a 1-4 record. In an attempt to turn around the season, Jerod Mayo confirmed the team is turning to rookie quarterback Drake Maye in their Week 6 matchup against the Houston Texans.

Mayo said the change stems from the belief that Maye gives the Patriots the best chance to win now and in the future.

“He’s been getting better every single week, as I’ve said before,” Mayo told reporters, per team-provided transcript. “At the end of training camp, he actually was trending at a very high rate. That has continued through the early part of the season.”

The first-year coach would not confirm that Maye would get 100% of the snaps, but that the North Carolina product is the starter now and going forward, and Jacoby Brissett is the team’s backup. Mayo also noted Maye’s biggest growth over the last five weeks.

“Just operating the huddle,” Mayo said. “I think it starts right there. Getting the call, getting in the huddle, getting out of the huddle, going out there and executing the play.”

Mayo admitted there is “never a perfect” time to make a change at quarterback, but Maye is prepared to start against the Texans.

“Every defense that we play, whether it’s the defensive ends or the defensive tackles, they all the have ability to rush and get after the quarterback,” Mayo said. “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.”

The Patriots are looking for their first win since upsetting the Cincinnati Bengals to begin the 2024 campaign. The Texans’ only loss of the season came at the hands of the undefeated Minnesota Vikings in Week 3.