The New England Patriots quarterback competition is finally over — and cooler heads prevailed.
Jacoby Brissett will be under center when the Patriots visit the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 8, Jerod Mayo confirmed Thursday morning. Drake Maye will serve as his backup, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
Brissett repped as the starter throughout training camp and held a clear edge over Drake Maye for much of the summer, but Maye made the competition close with a late-August surge.
Let’s go over why the Patriots’ decision makes sense and what it could mean for Maye.
Patriots Name Week 1 Starting QB
Mayo wasn’t originally scheduled to speak with reporters on Thursday. However, on Wednesday, the first-year head coach said he’d made a QB decision but wouldn’t make it public until after announcing it to players the next day.
He delivered that message during a team meeting Thursday morning, then announced the decision during a (very brief) news conference moments later.
Here’s the full transcript of the presser, which lasted just one minute and 20 seconds:
Mayo: “Good morning friends. Just like I told you guys a few days ago, it’s a process as far as selecting who the starting quarterback is. We have decided — or I have decided — that Jacoby Brissett will be our starting quarterback this season. Now, in saying that, 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. I had an opportunity to talk to Drake, I had an opportunity to talk to Jacoby separately — and also together. And I feel like we’re all on the same page from an organizational perspective.”
Question: “You said that you had the decision, and it was your decision. What ultimately led you to Jacoby Brissett?”
Mayo: “There are a lot of factors that led to this choice. I think the hard part is thinking in the short term and the long term at the same time. As an organization, though, we feel like Jacoby gives us our best chance to win right now.”
Question: “You said that Jacoby Brissett is your starting quarterback this season. Does that mean there’s a possibility that Drake (won’t play at all)?”
Mayo: “I don’t want to get into hypotheticals. We can’t go into the season saying, ‘Well, he’s gonna go X amount of weeks.’ Look, as long as Jacoby’s going out there performing the way that we all have confidence in him doing, he’ll be our quarterback this season.”
Jerod Mayo on naming Jacoby Brissett QB1:
"We're all on the same page from an organizational perspective."
Mayo said Brissett will be the starter "this season." When asked whether that means Drake Maye will sit all year, Mayo said he didn't want to engage in hypotheticals. pic.twitter.com/6RfnjwX1Az
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandall) August 29, 2024
The Patriots signed Brissett to a one-year, $8 million deal just over a month before selecting Maye with the No. 3 selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. Brissett entered camp as the presumed starter, and though his grip on the job eventually loosened, he did enough to outlast his rookie counterpart.
New England’s QB battle took an interesting turn last Sunday when Brissett suffered a minor shoulder injury early in the preseason finale. Maye played the rest of the first half and shined, causing many to call on the Patriots to name Maye the starter.
However, in the end, New England did the right thing and chose Brissett.
Why Starting Jacoby Brissett Over Drake Maye Is the Right Call
There’s no denying that Maye outplayed Brissett during the second half of training camp and was the better QB during the preseason. Even Mayo admitted as much.
Maye showed better arm strength, more mobility, and greater playmaking ability than Brissett. After a rough start to camp, Maye eventually showed legitimate franchise quarterback potential. Patriots fans can dream big about the future.
But New England’s quarterback competition didn’t happen in a vacuum.
Brissett was the more consistent QB throughout the offseason, including during spring practices. He has first-hand experience in Alex Van Pelt’s offshoot of the West Coast offense, whereas Maye is still adjusting to life outside of UNC’s shotgun-heavy Air Raid offense.
Brissett’s been calling plays from the huddle and operating under center since entering the NFL in 2016. Maye’s been doing both for about four months.
Perhaps most importantly, Brissett knows how to diagnose blitzes and adjust protections. And that’s a big deal with the Patriots set to field one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.
There’s a real chance that New England’s starting quarterback doubles as a punching bag for the first month of the season. It might sound cruel, but if you’re the Patriots, why would you subject your new franchise QB to such punishment instead of a veteran who knows how to protect himself?
No matter how you slice it, Brissett is more equipped to run the Patriots’ offense in Week 1. That likely will change sometime this season — but when?
PFN Analysis: When Could Maye Debut for Patriots?
If you asked us this question three weeks ago, we would’ve leaned toward Maye sitting until after the Week 14 bye — if not the entire season.
But his recent improvements change the math. You can’t overstate how much better he looked later in camp compared to the first two weeks. At this point, it’s fair to assume Maye will play sometime during his rookie season, likely much earlier than expected.
There are multiple factors in play, however.
Nobody knows when New England’s O-line will function as a representative unit, or if it ever will. So long as the offensive line is a disaster, the Patriots should hold back on starting Maye.
And then there’s the schedule, which ties into the O-line’s issues. The Patriots will begin their season by visiting the Bengals, hosting the Seattle Seahawks, visiting the New York Jets, and visiting the San Francisco 49ers. Those are four above-average defenses with formidable front sevens.
The schedule lightens afterward, though, with three of New England’s next five games coming against the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans. All three have talented defenses but aren’t as loaded as the first four opponents.
If — and it’s a big “if” — the Patriots see their O-line stabilize after four weeks, they could insert Maye for the Week 5 home game against the Dolphins.
The final variable is Brissett himself.
New England has a path toward exceeding expectations in 2024. The reverse outcome is more likely, but you can squint and see a seven- or eight-win team.
If Brissett plays well and wins a few games early in the season, why mess with a good thing? He was signed to be the perfect bridge starter: Someone capable of playing winning football while affording the Patriots the luxury of being patient with Maye, who’s as raw as he is wildly talented.
Again, Maye probably will — and should — play in 2024. But his timeline is unclear, and he could debut at any point in the season.