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The New England Patriots' season has gone downhill after their shocking upset of the Bengals in Week 1. After three consecutive losses, the discussion has switched from the competitiveness of the team to the quarterback situation.
It's natural that the discussion would shift to when we might see the rookie Drake Maye, whom the Patriots selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Maye hasn't seen much of the field this season, only playing sparingly at the end of the Patriots' Week 3 loss to the New York Jets. Outside of that, it has been the veteran Jacoby Brissett getting the reps behind center.
Brissett has played sound football, but isn't producing anything spectacular on that side of the ball. However, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo is sticking with the old guard at quarterback, per Alex Barth of 98.5 The Sports Hub.
“Jacoby is 100% our starter, and that's how we're going to look at this going forward,” Mayo said, according to Barth.
In four games this season, Brissett is completing just over 60% of his passes with 536 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Maye was unspectacular in his debut, which came at the end of a blowout, going 4-for-8 with 22 yards.
It's fair to wonder if putting Maye out there is the best thing for the rookie, considering the state of the rest of this Patriots offense. Sure, reps are always helpful, but New England doesn't have the kind of offensive infrastructure to support a young quarterback right now. They have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, and their pass-catching group doesn't feature a top target that Maye would be able to consistently rely on.
In the past, plenty of rookie quarterbacks have had their careers altered because they were forced to play in bad situations that hurt them as a player. Mayo and the Patriots are taking the cautious route and avoiding a similar fate for Maye.
