Reporter criticizes Patriots' handling of Jacoby Brissett, Drake Maye situation

After first-year New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo replaced veteran Jacoby Brissett with rookie Drake Maye as the club's starting quarterback ahead of this past Sunday's game against the Houston Texans, Mayo defended his decision to keep Brissett atop the depth chart across the season's first five weeks even though the 31-year-old largely failed to impress. 

For a piece published following New England's 41-21 loss to the Texans that dropped the Patriots to 1-5 on the season, ESPN's Dan Graziano explained why he feels it's "not an overreaction" to say that Maye should've been New England's starter earlier after the 22-year-old outperformed Brissett during the preseason. 

"Ignoring the fact that Mayo has to coach the other 52 guys on the team and the offense was totally ineffective with Brissett at the helm, let's look at how things went specifically for Maye in his starting debut," Graziano said. "He completed 20 of 33 passes (61%) for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Per ESPN Research, he became the second Patriots QB to record at least three TD passes in their first career start, joining Tom Yewcic (three in 1962, when the Patriots were in the AFL)." 

To compare, the Patriots went into Week 6 responsible for the league's worst-ranked passing attack (119.4 yards per game) and ranked 31st in scoring (12.4 points per contest). Despite such woeful numbers, Mayo and others in the organization clearly had concerns about Maye possibly taking beatings while playing behind an inept offensive line. 

The situation seemingly changed not long after a reporter who works for the Patriots' website suggested the team's locker room was "teetering on mutiny" related to Mayo starting Brissett over Maye through Week 5. For better or for worse, Mayo is now unintentionally following Peyton Manning's advice and letting Maye learn about life in the NFL "the hard way" as a starter who probably is going to lose more than he wins for the foreseeable future. 

"Maye was the third pick in the 2024 draft," Graziano added. "If he's going to crumble under tough circumstances, then he's not the guy the Patriots thought he was when they made the pick." 

What's done is done, and Maye will look to earn his first win as an NFL QB1 when New England faces the 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars in London this coming Sunday. As of Monday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Jaguars as 5.5-point favorites against the Patriots.