Sports analyst Bill Simmons isn't looking forward to the New England Patriots' regular season. On a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Ringer's head honcho revealed he's ready to throw the Patriots' 2024 campaign away before its inception.

Simmons pointed to starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett, rookie head coach Jerod Mayo, and New England's offensive line as some of the biggest causes for concern.

“My beloved Pats, the worst team I think we've had since I was a senior in college,” Simmons said. “The offensive line is so bad, and all the Pats fans have been talking about him. And finally, they're on the last game of the year Sunday night, Collinsworth and Tirico. Drake Maye has a couple of really nice throws, and Collinsworth is like, ‘Oh my God, Mike. This kid, what he's seeing. How did he do that? This kid, he's 21 years old, Mike!' And then, five minutes later, he's running for his life on every single play because there's no left tackle, no right tackle, and we have no center that can snap the ball.

“The QB/coach combo is in the bottom three of the league or something like that.”

For Simmons, only one thing matters for the Patriots' upcoming season: keeping rookie quarterback Drake Maye healthy.

“I love Drake Maye,” Simmons added. “And the only thing that matters this season is that Drake Maye doesn't get hurt.”

The Patriots addressed the O-line by signing Zachary Thomas and Demontrey Jacobs off waivers last week.

Jerod Mayo names Jacoby Brissett as Patriots' starting quarterback

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Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo announced that quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, will begin the 2024 season as New England's starting QB.

“It's a process, as far as selecting who the starting quarterback is,” Mayo said, per NFL.com. “We have decided — or I have decided — that Jacoby Brissett will be our starting quarterback this season.”

Mayo is planning for Brissett to remain his starting quarterback all year and doesn't want anyone thinking this is a short-term play for the Patriots to hand the offense to second-year quarterback Drake Maye ultimately.

“As an organization, we are 100 percent behind Jacoby,” Mayo added. “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 as far as an organizational perspective.

“The hard part is thinking in the short term and the long term at the same time. As an organization, we feel like Jacoby gives us our best chance to win right now.”

The Patriots open their season against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.