For most of the offseason, Drake Maye was the clear No. 2 on the New England Patriots’ quarterback depth chart.
With one more preseason game to go for the Patriots, coach Jerod Mayo opened the door for Maye to become No. 1 before the regular season starts.
Jacoby Brissett didn’t play well on Thursday night, throwing one interception into the end zone and nearly throwing another under pressure. Maye, the No. 3 overall pick of the draft, made some good throws and led the team to its only touchdown of the game.
That was enough for Mayo to at least entertain the idea of Maye starting the season opener.
Mayo said on Friday that “the competition isn’t over” for the QB1 spot, via Evan Lazar of Patriots.com. Brissett has been the starter in both preseason games and training camp, but Mayo said Maye could get first-team reps this week.
“We’ll see,” Mayo said, via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. “We’ll have a staff meeting later today and that decision will be made. I think he definitely showed improvement yesterday. We’ll see going forward.”
Perhaps pumping up the possibility of a competition is coachspeak. Switching to Maye now would be abrupt after an offseason of Brissett being the starter. It seemed as if the Patriots didn’t want to rush Maye, especially with a subpar cast around him including an offensive line that is considered among the worst in the NFL. New England’s environment around the quarterback remains subpar and the team won’t want to rush Maye into that situation.
But there will be pressure to get Maye in the lineup soon. Maye was just 6-of-11 for 47 yards in two quarters of work on Thursday night but made some nice plays, including a pretty deep throw that a diving Javon Baker couldn’t haul in. Maye also had a rushing touchdown. While Brissett has been a solid veteran, Maye’s talent is obvious. He’s the quarterback of the Patriots’ future. The only question is if he can be the present as well.
Mayo said the Patriots’ starting offense will play in the final preseason game next week. That makes sense no matter who the starting quarterback will be, because New England has had its offensive issues.
It’s a bit late to ramp up a quarterback competition, but Mayo opened up that possibility.
“If he’s better than Jacoby, you know, he’ll play. He’ll start,” Mayo said after the game on Thursday.
We’ll see if it’s a real quarterback competition. If it is, it makes the Patriots’ preseason finale a lot more interesting.
