Mayo mum on QB battle after Maye gets reps late in TNF
New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo wouldn't commit to a quarterback change after rookie Drake Maye got reps late in the team's 24-3 loss to the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football.
"I don't know," Mayo said postgame when asked if Maye will be the starter moving forward, according to Phil Perry of NBCS Boston. "We talk about it every single week, you're competing for a job. We'll get together as a coaching staff and see where it goes."
Maye entered the game on the final drive, completing four of eight passes for 22 yards. He was sacked twice, including on the game's final play at New York's 7-yard line.
It was Maye's first regular-season game action after being Jacoby Brissett's backup to start the campaign. New England selected the 22-year-old third overall out of North Carolina in the 2024 draft.
"Yeah, I think that's kind of what I'm doing week in and week out. I'll be ready when my name's called," Maye said following the contest when asked if he's ready to start, via Ian Steele of ABC6.
He added: "I've been preparing like I'm the starter."
New England's offensive line struggled to protect Brissett and Maye all night, allowing 15 quarterback hits and seven sacks. The Jets blitzed Brissett on 40% of his dropbacks, their highest rate in a game since 2021, according to Next Gen Stats. Brissett was pressured on eight of 10 attempted pass plays when blitzed, taking three sacks with only two completions.
"I thought the offensive line today had a hard time," Mayo said postgame, per Steele. "There were times earlier in the game where the pockets looked pretty clean, but as the game wore on, similar to last week, it started to fall apart."
"We just got beat pretty handily. So right now, everything is a concern," he added, per Chad Graff of The Athletic.
The Patriots will take on the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4 after falling to 1-2 with the loss.