The Drake Maye era has officially arrived in Foxborough, with Jerod Mayo confirming that the rookie will replace Jacoby Brissett as the team's starting quarterback.

Mayo gave some standard coachspeak when he explained the decision to reporters on Wednesday, saying the team made the move that gave them the best opportunity to win games.

“Going forward, I think now, Drake gives us the best chance to win now and going forward,” Mayo said. “He's been getting better every single week, as I’ve said before. 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.

“So, it was solely my decision to make this choice. I had a conversation one-on-one with Jacoby. I had a conversation with Drake. We're all on board.”

The Patriots opened the season with Brissett at quarterback after having an open competition for the starting spot during training camp and the preseason. Brissett led the Patriots to a surprise win in the season opener, but things slowly unraveled from there. New England has gone on a four-game losing streak since the Week 1 win.

Brissett has played a large role in the Patriots' shortcomings through their 1-4 start. He's 27th in passing yards (696) and has thrown for just two touchdowns in five games. As a result, New England ranks 31st in total offense (250.8 yards per game) and scoring (12.4 points per game).

Of course, Brissett isn't solely to blame for the Patriots' offensive woes. He's been pressured a league-high 50 percent of the time on his dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats. He's also been sacked 17 times through five games, with 13 of them coming in the last three games.

Mayo saluted Brissett for hanging in there during a rough period, adding that the veteran quarterback took the team's decision to bench him well.

“He was a warrior,” Mayo said of Brissett. “As you guys know, he’s taken a lot of hits and just kept getting up. I would also say, for a guy like that to be voted as a captain in this situation and continue to be very supportive of Drake Maye, I tip my hat to Jacoby for having that egoless mentality.”

What Jerod Mayo said of Drake Maye's progression to make him Patriots' starting QB

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Even though Brissett has been starting at quarterback, Maye had been receiving 30 percent of the reps at practice, an unusually high amount for a backup quarterback. Those reps allowed the Patriots to see the rookie's progression.

Obviously, the Patriots liked Maye enough ahead of the draft to select him with the No. 3 overall pick. But Mayo shared the team was surprisingly impressed with Maye in one area ahead of the draft, with the rookie showing progression in that certain aspect.

“Drake's a smart guy, and we saw that throughout the draft process,” Mayo said. “As far as understanding the offense, the language and just his overall football IQ, I think that continues to improve. I was actually pleasantly surprised. Even when he got here, it was never a question, ‘Was he smart?’ But I was pleasantly surprised, just his work ethic, out of this world, and studying the playbook and trying to get those reps.

“He continues to get better each and every day.”

Maye has gotten the chance to show his ability at the NFL level on a few occasions. He completed 21 of 34 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown to go with 32 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown over three preseason games. He also made his NFL debut against the New York Jets in Week 3, completing 4 of 8 passes for 22 yards and rushing for 12 more in a garbage time drive.

Now, it's go time for Maye, and Mayo expects everyone on the team to be behind the rookie quarterback.

“We had a conversation with Jacoby and Drake the night prior [Monday night],” Mayo said. “But I told the team this morning that in the same way that the full weight of the organization was behind Jacoby at the time, I expect the same thing, the full weight of the organization to be behind Drake no matter what.”

The Patriots will hope that Maye will break their losing streak when they host the Houston Texans on Sunday.