Thursday night’s game between the New England Patriots and New York Jets would be much more intriguing if Drake Maye were starting for New England. A highly touted rookie quarterback making his NFL debut against Aaron Rodgers — it’d be good stuff.
Alas, Maye will be on the bench for the prime-time matchup at MetLife Stadium. The Patriots instead will give Jacoby Brissett his third straight start, and rightfully so.
Patriots To Start Jacoby Brissett in Week 3 vs. New York Jets
Brissett, who exceeded expectations in the first two weeks, will be under center as the Patriots look to beat their AFC East rivals and earn a surprising 2-1 start. New England’s struggling offense could find tough sledding against New York’s high-end defense, but the game should be close if the Patriots’ defense does its job.
Brissett wasn’t spectacular in Weeks 1 and 2, but he was more than serviceable. The veteran completed 58.8% of his passes for 270 yards and one touchdown while throwing zero interceptions.
With the Patriots heavily leaning on their running game, Brissett hasn’t been asked to do too much. A struggling, patchwork offensive line has forced New England to be overly conservative.
Will Brissett and company be able to push the ball downfield against the Jets? It’ll be a tough ask, especially with a rookie starting at left tackle.
As for Maye, he shook off a rough start to training camp and pushed Brissett for the starting job in late August. But the No. 3 overall pick ultimately lost to his veteran counterpart and now is serving as the top backup.
Maye likely won’t play against the Jets unless Brissett suffers an injury or the game gets out of hand. However, all signs point toward Maye debuting sometime in 2024 rather than sitting out the entire season.
When Should Drake Maye Replace Brissett?
Maye’s late-summer performance likely moved up his timeline. And the Patriots’ unconventional splitting of reps in practice — Maye is seeing roughly 30% of reps with the first-team offense — suggests they want him to start sometime this season.
But Maye shouldn’t see the field anytime soon, at least not until the offensive line settles down.
Brissett took an absolute beating over the first two weeks. Through two games, the Patriots have the third-worst pressure rate (44.3%), are tied for the ninth-most pressures allowed (27), and have the fourth-worst pass-block win rate, per TruMedia. Brissett took just four sacks but was hit 14 times, tied for eighth-most in the NFL.
Consequently, the Patriots have received alarmingly low production from the receivers, some of whom have struggled to get open. In the first two games, New England receivers combined for just 85 yards and one touchdown on 11 catches.
That’s not a good situation for any rookie quarterback, let alone one who entered the league as a raw prospect.
Furthermore, despite the chaos around him, Brissett has played well. He did a masterful job of managing pressure and adjusting protections in the Week 1 win — certainly better than Maye could’ve done — and nearly led the Patriots to a victory over the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday.
Brissett deserves to keep his job, and it sounds like he will.
“For me, I’m focused on the [New York] Jets,” head coach Jerod Mayo said during a Monday morning WEEI interview when asked about possibly starting Maye. “I’m not looking that far out. As an organization, we’re still 100% behind Jacoby.”
With Drake Maye getting 30% of first team reps, is that building towards something soon? What are HC Jerod Mayo's, thoughts on the upcoming Jets? #NFL @WEEI pic.twitter.com/iNagkw0TEW
— The Greg Hill Show (@TheGregHillShow) September 16, 2024
As they should be.
Maye’s time will come, and it could come soon. Assuming he’s doing all the right things behind the scenes, he should get a chance sometime before the Week 14 bye. You could even make a case for Maye debuting in Week 5 when the Patriots will host a Tua Tagovailoa-less Miami Dolphins.
But the Patriots shouldn’t rush it unless they want to create Bryce Young 2.0.