Former QB blasts Patriots' unique Drake Maye, Jacoby Brissett plan as 'malpractice'

It was revealed earlier this week that first-year New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo is giving rookie and backup quarterback Drake Maye roughly 30 percent of the first-team reps during practices, snaps that typically would go to veteran starter Jacoby Brissett. 

Former NFL signal-caller and current analyst Chase Daniel of The Athletic took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Friday and mentioned that he has "never heard or been part of a situation where a team's starting QB is not getting 100%" of practice reps during a season. 

"Just do it already," Daniel added about New England making Maye the starter over Brissett. "This is downright malpractice for both of them." 

According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, Mayo acknowledged while speaking with reporters on Friday that a starting signal-caller normally gets around "95% of the reps" during practices. Mayo said that the 70-30 split is meant to ensure that Maye continues to develop and improve aspects of his game such as his footwork. 

"From day one, I've always said he's a true professional," Mayo said about Brissett's handling of a unique situation. "I've always said he's a great mentor, not only for Drake but also for [rookie Joe Milton III]. He's won games in this league, and he understands we drafted Drake as the No. 3 pick in the draft; looking out the front windshield, at some point in time -- I don't know when that time will come -- [Maye] will have to go out there and play."

While Patriots center and team captain David Andrews praised Brissett earlier this week for playing "smart, complementary football" in New England's 16-10 season-opening win at the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday, the fact remains that the 31-year-old completed 15-of-24 passes for only 121 yards with zero touchdowns in that outing. More often than not, such production from a quarterback will result in a team suffering a loss in the modern NFL. 

Nevertheless, Brissett is on track to start both this Sunday's home opener versus the 1-0 Seattle Seahawks and next Thursday's matchup at the New York Jets. It remains to be seen if he can do enough to remain atop the depth chart through Week 4 or if Mayo will call time on this experiment before September comes to an end.