Drake Maye outplayed Jacoby Brissett in the New England Patriots' preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but Jerod Mayo said what would need to happen in order for the rookie to win the starting quarterback job.
The Patriots coach said that the team will pick who'll be their starting quarterback based on performance, regardless of the offensive line situation.
“For me, we always talk about competition, and that's at all spots. So even if Drake beats out Jacoby, I mean, he earned that role,” Mayo told reporters when asked if the offensive line situation would be an impediment to Maye starting. “And we don't really take that into consideration. When he's ready to go, and if he's better than Jacoby, then he'll play; he'll start.”
Maye didn't post the most impressive stats in Thursday's 14-13 loss, completing 6 of 11 passes for just 47 yards. But he led New England to two scoring drives in the four possessions, rushing for a four-yard touchdown late in the first half.
Brissett, meanwhile, struggled. He completed 3 of 7 passes for 17 yards, throwing an ill-advised interception when the Patriots were in the red zone in the first quarter. The Patriots didn't score at all in the three drives Brissett played, going three-and-out in the other two possessions.
As Brissett underwhelmed, the Patriots' offensive line might have been even worse on Thursday. Left tackle Vederian Lowe, in particular, struggled. He allowed Maye to get sacked in the third quarter and gave up a quarterback hit when Brissett was in the game during his limited action.
With the Patriots' offensive line struggling in training camp practices, there's been a sentiment that New England shouldn't start Maye considering the injury risk. But Mayo said that there's a “dramatic drop-off” with the Patriots' starting offensive line and their backup units based on “just knowing what to do.”
Even then, Mayo said that the quarterback battle will come down to performance and not other factors.
What Drake Maye did to impress Jerod Mayo in Patriots' preseason loss to Eagles
If Thursday's game is any indication, Maye might have impressed Mayo enough to give a chance to be the starting quarterback. While Maye's elite traits as a prospect were on display, it was the rookie's demeanor that really impressed the head coach.
“One of the reasons we drafted Drake was, through the interview process you could kind of tell this was an even-keeled guy,” Mayo said. “I think you guys can probably see it from the stands. This guy doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low. He was like that in college. He was probably like that as a kid. He remains that way now, which is a good thing for a quarterback. Those guys, they have to maintain their composure and get the call to the huddle and get those guys out of the huddle, get them ready to go. He's always been like that in my mind.”
That demeanor helped the Patriots pick up three third-down conversions with Maye at quarterback. Maye's even-keeled demeanor was also on display when Javon Baker dropped an impressive deep ball on third down in the quarter. The quarterback didn't react too strongly, a good sign that he was ready to move onto the next play when the Patriots next took the field.
Maye will get one more preseason opportunity to show if he's worthy of being the starting quarterback in Week 1. Mayo's looking forward to see what the rookie does.
“He had great composure. I thought it was a good drive,” Mayo said of Maye's touchdown drive. “I thought he went out there and did a lot of good things. Hopefully, he can build on that and we'll see how this week goes.”
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