FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The reports are, in fact, true. After both national and local media alike came forward with news on Tuesday that the Patriots will be starting rookie Drake Maye at quarterback versus the Houston Texans, head coach Jerod Mayo confirmed the decision on Wednesday morning:
“It was solely my decision to make this choice,” Mayo said. “I met with all of the offensive coaches and we had a conversation. Then we met together, AVP [Alex Van Pelt] and myself, and he was fully onboard.”
Maye was drafted by New England with the No. 3 overall pick in April’s draft, and served as the backup to starter and captain Jacoby Brissett for the team’s first five weeks. Under Brissett, the Patriots have a 1-4 record, the league’s worst passing offense (119.4 YPG), and are scoring just 12.4 points per game.
“Jacoby was a warrior, as you guys know,” said Mayo “He’s taken a lot of hits and just kept getting up.”
He continued: “For a guy like that to be voted a captain, in his situation, and continue to be very supportive of Drake Maye, I tip my hat to Jacoby for having that egoless mentality.”
Brissett was under fire throughout the team’s first five games. The Patriots’ offensive line in front of him is giving up the highest pressure rate in the NFL at 48.3% per Next Gen Stats, and has allowed 19 quarterback sacks, second most behind only the Cleveland Browns.
“Every team, this early in the season, is still trying to figure out who they have and what they are as an organization,” said Mayo when asked if the team is fit to support a rookie quarterback. “We’re good with Drake. Every team doesn’t have, let’s say a [No.] 1 receiver, a [No.] 1 running back, they don’t have those kind of things, but I would say that Drake is gonna make us a better football team today and going forward.”
“He’s been getting better every single week,” the head coach later said of his new QB. “As I said before, at the end of training camp he actually was trending at a very high rate, and that has continued through the early part of the season.”
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