The New England Patriots are again officially on to Cincinnati, where they’ll open the 2024 campaign Sept. 8, but they might be turning to rookie quarterback Drake Maye earlier than most expected.
Appearing on WEEI Monday morning, head coach Jerod Mayo said Maye has outplayed veteran Jacoby Brissett in the preseason.
“It’s a combination of Drake becoming more comfortable and he’s climbing the ranks,” Mayo said.
Since drafting Maye third overall in the first round of the draft, the Patriots have referred to Brissett and Maye as 1A and 1B.
“Who knows,” Mayo added. “It may change. It’s a competition and that’s definitely a huge conversation here over the next few days how we want to approach it.”
Brissett, considered by most insiders the front-runner to start the season at quarterback for the Patriots, injured his throwing shoulder early in Sunday’s preseason finale at Washington. And while Mayo said after Sunday’s game Brissett could’ve continued to play had the team not already planned to remove him following that first series, he added that Maye outplayed Brissett during the preseason.
NFL teams selected six quarterbacks over the first 12 picks of the 2024 draft. Chicago’s Caleb Williams (first overall), Washington’s Jayden Daniels (second) and Denver’s Bo Nix (12th) have already been named Week 1 starters. Maye could join that group, while the futures of Atlanta’s Michael Penix (eighth) and Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy (10th) are undetermined.