Patriots HC Jerod Mayo leaves door open for Drake Maye to start over Jacoby Brissett in Week One

New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo is not ruling out Drake Maye as the starting quarterback over Jacoby Brissett to open the 2024 NFL season. When speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mayo was asked about Maye competing well enough to beat Brissett for the starting role.

“That goes for any position. If (Maye) comes out here and lights it up, and once again it goes back to the quality of reps, it could absolutely happen,” Mayo said, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “But I sit here and tell you coming out of the spring, Jacoby looks like the starting quarterback. Now with that being said, he’ll have competition. Let’s not forget about even Joe Milton. Let’s not forget about (Bailey) Zappe. All those guys will have opportunities to go out there and be the starting quarterback in Week 1.”

Mayo was also asked if they would put Maye in a “protective bubble.” He told reporters, “Not at all. You’ve seen that work in the past. You look at other quarterbacks, the Green Bay quarterbacks, right, where they had a lot of time. You look at those situations and they were able to sit back. There have also been situations where a guy comes right in right now and he balls out. We’ll see what happens when we get out there on the field.”

Maye, 21, was selected No. 3 overall by the Patriots in this year’s draft. He comes to New England after throwing for 3,608 yards and 24 touchdowns in his final season with the North Carolina Tar Heels. Maye looks to be the team’s next franchise QB after Tom Brady won six Super Bowls with the team from 2000 to 2019.

Jerod Mayo talks Drake Maye’s growth during the offseason

In June, Mayo spoke to reporters about how much Maye has grown in his short time with the Patriots.“Yeah, he’s done a great job,” Mayo said. “He’s going the right direction. Now, in saying that, we know there’s going to be some down days, and that’s one thing that I’ve been trying to stress to him is, ‘Alright, just keep chipping at the rock. Get 1% better every day.’ It’s not always going to be great, and he’s done a good job.”

Brissett, 31, is entering his second stint with the Patriots after being drafted by the team in 2016. He has also spent time with the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and Washington Commanders. In his NFL career, Brissett has played in 79 games with 48 starts and has thrown 10,574 yards and 80 touchodwns.

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this story.