After New England Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye made his NFL debut in Week 3's 24-3 blowout loss to the New York Jets on Thursday, don't anticipate seeing him in a starter's role soon. After a non-committal response, when asked if benching starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett was possible after the loss, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo will keep Brissett in as starting quarterback. While some NFL head coaches sometimes wake up the day after a loss with a different outlook on how things played out, Mayo says he's sticking with his veteran QB, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
“Jacoby is our quarterback until he is not the quarterback,” Mayo said. “I thought last night he showed a lot of toughness, a lot of grit.”
Brissett finished the game 12-of-18 and threw for 98 yards, while the Jets shut down the Patriots' running game in Thursday's loss. Lead-back Rhamondre Stevenson only had two carries on the Patriots' first two possessions, with Brissett dropping back to pass seven times, which was all part of New York's plan to disrupt New England's offense early and often.
Jacoby Brissett was sacked five times before his backup, Maye, took over in the fourth quarter, with the game out of reach. He entered the game with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter, with the Patriots trailing 24-3. After his first pass was nearly intercepted, Maye converted a second down handoff to Antonio Gibson, who picked up seven yards. Jets' Jamien Sherwood also took him down for a one-yard scramble, threw three incomplete passes, and was sacked twice.
After the loss, coach Jerod Mayo was asked about Maye potentially stepping into QB1 for Week 4, per CBS Sports.
“I don't know. We talk about every single week, you're competing for a job. We'll get together as a coaching staff and see how it goes,” Mayo said Thursday night before announcing his decision Friday.
On a positive note, Drake Maye completed four of his eight passes for 22 yards while scrambling for 12 yards on two carries in his NFL debut.