There is a new era starting in Foxborough. They are still living in the shadow of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and their six Super Bowls.
The New England Patriots are ready to move forward for the future. Rookie No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye out of the University of North Carolina, will take over the starting quarterback duties, replacing 9-year veteran Jacoby Brissett this on Sunday for the team’s Week 6 matchup against C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans, CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones confirms. Earlier this week, first-year head coach Jerod Mayo insisted that Brissett would remain his starter, but the team has apparently flipped the script.
The Patriots have dropped four games in a row after getting a surprising upset beating the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 in Week 1. Mayo stated a week ago that the way the team performed in its lone victory was “unsustainable” because of the lack of offensive fire power and low scoring output; the Patriots are now averaging a dismal 12.4 points per game.
Maye clearly out-performed Brissett during the preseason and it was not even close, which Mayo reluctantly admitted prior to naming Brissett the opening-day starter, but the team made the decision to keep him on the bench to begin his career so he could watch and learn the speed and intricacies of the NFL game. That was because of the lack of weapons that Maye will have around him as he steps into the line of fire. The Patriots decision to give him 30% of the first-team reps in practice while he was still operating as the backup supports that theory. Starters usually receive 95% of those reps or more.
Embed from Getty ImagesNew England’s makeshift offensive line has left a lot to be desired all season long, and just lost its best player in center David Andrews. The corps of skill-position players is also one of the weakest in the NFL. The plan was seemingly to have Maye bide his time and wait behind Brissett until he was truly ready and the team could ensure he was put in the best position to succeed, but Brissett’s dreadful performance through the first five weeks of the season made that untenable.
Brissett has completed just 58.5% of his passes at an average of 5.2 yards a clip, with 2 touchdowns against 1 interception. He failed to top 168 passing yards in any of New England’s five games, during which the team went 1-4 and the most points they could muster was 20.
Maye came into one of those losses during garbage time and completed 50% of his passes, 4 of 8 for 22 yards. The had trouble protecting him and he was sacked on 2 of his dropbacks and scrambled twice for 12 yards. He was consistently running for his life and under siege, even in mop up duty.
Maye has a high ceiling, he is both extremely athletic and willing to consistently throw the ball down the field in the passing game. The Patriots desperately need a spark in both of those areas to get their offense going. Rookies Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders and more recently Caleb Williams have injected their offenses with life already this season, and now the Patriots are counting on Maye to follow suit.
In Sunday’s 15-10 home loss to the Miami Dolphins, Brissett did not reach 100 yards passing until the fourth quarter.
Asked to break down Brissett’s performance in the game, Mayo said on Monday, “It just wasn’t good enough. I thought we played well enough defensively and on special teams to win. As the quarterback, he understands this, he touches the ball on every single play, and we didn’t score enough points to win the game.”
Maye will now join Williams, Daniels and Bo Nix as the fourth rookie signal caller to start a game this season.
