The New England Patriots wrapped up their preseason campaign with a 20-10 loss at the hands of the Washington Commanders, and along the way, they saw their presumed starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett get forced out of the game after just one drive with a right shoulder injury. Unsurprisingly, Brissett's injury status was one of the first things head coach Jerod Mayo was asked about after the game.

Brissett was sacked by KJ Henry on New England's first drive, and while he stayed in the game for two more plays, he ultimately was replaced by Drake Maye on the next drive, with the team announcing that the veteran passer was questionable to return due to a shoulder injury. However, after the game, Mayo said that if he needed to, Brissett could have kept on playing, indicating that his injury isn't serious.

Jerod Mayo has big decision to make on Patriots starting quarterback

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Despite the fact that Brissett has been treated as the Patriots starting quarterback all offseason long, Mayo has yet to name either him or Maye the team's Week 1 starter, leaving the door open for the rookie to make the job his own. Brissett played very sparingly throughout the preseason, and when you combine his injury with Maye's strong performance (13/20, 126 YDS, 1 TD, 3 CAR, 17 YDS), it's safe to say that this is going to be a tough decision for Mayo.

Brissett should still have the inside track if he's healthy, but Maye showed his talent quite a bit throughout the preseason, and it's clear that the starting gig will be sooner rather than later. With the preseason in the books now, though, Mayo and the rest of the coaching staff will look to make a decision on their starting quarterback pretty quickly, and it will be interesting to see whether they go with Brissett or Maye to start the season.