It is time for Patriots coach Jerod Mayo to pick a starting quarterback and move on from the circus that he has created in many ways.
Mayo’s mixed messaging all spring and summer has come to a head. Either put an end to the shenanigans and name Jacoby Brissett the starter or bypass Drake Maye’s development and throw him to the wolves. Enough with the back and forth!
The Patriots never planned on starting Maye but given the events of the past two weeks, Mayo genuinely has a tough decision to make. Maye has outplayed Brissett and that complicates things for the Patriots. The plan has always been to feed Brissett to the wolves behind a porous offensive line, not Maye. Unfortunately for them, the rookie has thrown a wrench in their plans.
Mayo was asked about comments he made on WEEI earlier on Monday regarding the quarterback situation. He pivoted once again.
“I would say it just starts in practice and also in the game where Drake has played better. Now, in saying that, everyone needs to know who the starters are going to be. I think there are multiple factors that kind of have to go into this decision.” Mayo continued: “One is the total body of work, whether we’re talking about the spring or the entirety of training camp. I would also say oftentimes we forget about just the overall experience that a guy like Jacoby has, which will also be weighted in the decision that we have to make here in the near future. But I’m happy with the way those guys are battling it out, and hopefully, over the next couple of days, we can name a starter and get the season rolling.”
So now it is a competition but the decision cannot solely be based on the preseason games. Gotcha. So in other words, Brissett is going to be our starting quarterback but we do not want to announce too soon because then it won’t look like it was actually a competition.
The fact of the matter is, it never was a competition. Maye hardly got any reps with the starting offensive line and skill group. He repped with the twos for 95% of training camp. If it was a competition, then that was a unique way of doing it.
When Mayo was asked when he envisioned Maye playing, he said he cannot predict what the end of the season will look like.
“I think every situation is unique because I don’t want to fall into this narrative fallacy or anything like that. Because you have seen rookie quarterbacks go out there and perform at a high level. I don’t know how the story ends with Drake’s rookie season, but all possibilities are open, and we’ll see what happens as far as who we name the starter here in the near future.”
Translation. We will start Brissett and at some point we will turn it over to Maye. The Patriots are hoping Brissett lasts long enough for Maye to develop but after Sunday night’s abysmal performance by the offensive line, we might see Maye before the end of September.
It is understandable that this Patriots brain trust is trying to figure things out in their first season together but they need to get on the same page. They have put on a masters class on how to mismanage a quarterback decision. Eliot Wolf, Mayo and Alex Van Pelt all need to sit down and someone needs to make a final decision.
Enough with the dithering. It is not that hard. It is a Super Bowl or bust season for the team. If it is Brissett, so be it. Most Patriots fans would prefer that Maye sit and learn. At least to start.
Just make the call. It is time. Enough with the never ending quarterback circus.