The decision made by first-year New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo to start veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett over promising rookie Drake Maye paid off when Brissett guided the club to a surprising 16-10 season-opening win at the Cincinnati Bengals this past Sunday.
During the latest edition of “The Quick Snap” podcast, Patriots center and team captain David Andrews praised Brissett for what he has offered the franchise amid some unique circumstances.
“I think as a quarterback, that leadership Jacoby provides has been great,” Andrews explained, via Lauren Campbell of MassLive. “It’s something we’ve been needing on the offensive side of the ball.”
Much was made this past offseason about the alleged “toxic” situation involving New England’s quarterback room that seemingly impacted the club throughout the 2023 campaign when Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe were with the organization. Both of those signal-callers are now elsewhere, and Brissett received the opportunity to start against the Bengals even though he was outplayed by Maye in preseason action.
Brissett hardly lit the scoreboard up at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium, as he completed 15-of-24 passes for 121 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. According to ESPN stats, he ended Week 1 ranked seventh in the league among with an 82.2 adjusted QBR.
“It’s nice having a veteran presence at quarterback,” Andrews said. “Obviously, Drake’s got a bright future ahead of him. But to kind of see and learn from Jacoby, ‘OK, I don’t have to go out there and throw it for 350 yards. I can go out there, I can play good, smart, complementary football and we can win games.'”
Meanwhile, Karen Guregian of MassLive pointed out that New England’s much-maligned offensive line “allowed pressure on nearly 50% of Brissett’s drop-backs against the Bengals.” Per Guregian, Brissett “got hit on 25% of the pass plays” in Week 1.
Such stats show why Mayo and others within the Patriots want Maye to develop as a backup until further notice.
As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Patriots as three-point home underdogs for this Sunday’s game against the 1-0 Seattle Seahawks. If Brissett can win a second-straight start regardless of his numbers, he should be able to silence talk about Maye receiving any meaningful playing time for at least a handful of weeks.
