The Patriots had not had their full staff meeting as of 9:40 a.m. ET when Jerod Mayo was finished speaking to the media, so the head coach was not ready to announce whether Jacoby Brissett or Drake Maye would start at quarterback in Week 6 against the Texans.
The passing attack struggled again Sunday in the Patriots’ 15-10 loss to the Dolphins in which Brissett was just 18-of-34 for 160 yards. It was just the second time this season that Brissett has thrown for over 150 passing yards in a game. He’s averaging just 139.2 yards per game, the Patriots haven’t won since Week 1, and Mayo noted Monday morning that he thought the team’s offensive line “did a pretty good job” when asked if the unit held up well enough to properly assess Brissett and the passing game.
“Every single day we’re all being evaluated, and there’s no difference now,” Mayo said about potentially turning to Maye.
Mayo would previously use Monday’s platform to endorse Brissett as the starter. That changed this week.
Brissett did not turn the ball over Sunday, but with the game on the line, he threw four straight incompletions from the Dolphins’ 12-yard line with just over a minute left in the game and three timeouts. On the final play, with 12 seconds remaining and no timeouts, he completed a pass to tight end Hunter Henry in the middle of the field, which caused the clock to run out. Mayo called it a “mis-execution on multiple levels” on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”
“It just wasn’t good enough,” Mayo told reporters Monday morning when asked how he would evaluate Brissett’s performance. “I thought we played well enough defensively and on special teams to win the football game. Look, as the quarterback — and he understands this — he touches the ball on every single play and we didn’t win the game or score enough points to win the game. I think he would echo that same sentiment that it wasn’t good enough.”
Maye, the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, has appeared in one game with the Patriots this season. He was 4-of-8 for 22 passing yards and rushed twice for 12 yards. Mayo has acknowledged that Maye outplayed Brissett by the end of training camp but had maintained, until Monday, that the veteran game the Patriots the best chance to win.
“That’s a conversation, not only at that spot but all the spots, of how do we get better as a football team,” Mayo said on WEEI. “We’re not playing well. It’s not a secret. Being the head coach of this team, I have to accept all of the responsibility for that.”
Mayo did ultimately say it’s his decision on whether to start Maye.
