Patriots player under most pressure in 2024 NFL season

When it comes to players who will be under immense pressure from the fans in 2024, few player's seats will be hotter than Jacoby Brissett, the once and future New England Patriots starter who was brought back to the team that drafted him in order to start some games at quarterback.

Now granted, calling Brissett a player under pressure, let alone the most pressure, can certainly be argued, as he isn't in a contract year, doesn't have millions of dollars on the line if things go poorly, and frankly, isn't even expected to take the Pats back to the playoffs after a few down years at the end of the Bill Belichick era.

Will Brissett get an earful from his coaching staff if he has an underwhelming season this fall? Sure thing, if he absolutely stinks up the joint, the Patriots may ultimately make a change one way or another under center, but if Brissett just plays fine and the Patriots still lose, the demands from fans online, in person, and on sports radio will be banging the table demanding to see rookie Drake Maye handed his rightful spot under center.

Now, do fans have a reason to push for Maye to start? You bet, after drafting the UNC product third overall, he is clearly the team's expected starting quarterback heading into the future, but that doesn't mean he needs to get under center right away. Why? Well, as Patriots fans learned all too well during the Mac Jones era, if you throw a rookie quarterback into deep water before they are ready, it can ruin a career before it's able to get off the ground.

Will it be fun to watch Brissett hold down the fort for a few weeks, months, or even the entire season? Eh, not necessarily, but if it sets the team up for success long-term, who really cares?

The Patriots vowed to support Drake Maye more than Mac Jones

Talking with reporters shortly after the Jones trade but roughly a month before drafting Maye third overall, Jared Mayo was asked if the Patriots “wasted” some of the former Alabama quarterback's potential by not putting him in the best position to succeed.

While Mayo was working on the defensive side of the ball at the time, he did acknowledge that maybe the Patriots could have done a better job of insolating their young signal caller as he learned the NFL's ropes and noted that in 2024, the signing of Brissett should help to ease any rookie addition to the team as they transition from college to the pros.

“I would say it was a combination of things that really kind of hindered that growth in the second year. One thing I did learn about that process was as you continue to develop a quarterback, it's not only the players you put around him, but also the coaches that you put around this guy. And not only the coaches, but it could go all the way to the ops teams and things like that,” Mayo told reporters via CBS Sports.

“To support a guy who plays the most important position in sports, and to ask him as a rookie to come in, it's always gonna be tough. And then you get to year two, you wanna see that jump. And then you get to year three, you would want to see success like this straight line. But realistically, that's not what it is. It's like a bunch of ups and downs. I think just supporting a quarterback is one of the biggest things. And I would also say this, you bring a guy like Jacoby [Brissett] in, look, he's definitely a starter in this league, and I would also say he's a good mentor to quarterbacks across the league.”

Asked if he feels good about where the Patriots are now, or at least at the end of March, Mayo said yes, noting that he has built a strong base for future success.

“100 percent. I feel very good about the staff that we have. We have guys, T.C. and AVP and even [Ben] McAdoo, all guys that bring a certain skill set to the quarterback position,” Mayo said. “Those guys have worked together in the past, and they're on the same page to support any quarterback that we bring in.”

Does Maye have a better foundation than Jones when he entered the league a few years back? Yes, while his supporting cast still isn't great, he has a better collection of coaches and a quality bridge quarterback in Brissett who can mentor him along. In a league where only 32 men get to start at quarterback on any given weekend, that is an important aspect of player development that seemed to elude Belichick at the end of his run in New England.