Insider addresses theory about when Patriots may start Drake Maye

Even before the passing attack of the New England Patriots failed to impress across the club's first two games of the season, some wondered if first-year head coach Jerod Mayo could replace starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett with promising rookie Drake Maye for New England's Week 5 home game against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 6. 

Patriots/NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated addressed the idea of Maye starting against Miami for a mailbag published on Wednesday. 

"This is definitely not the time to be hustling Maye out onto the game field," Breer wrote. "The Patriots' offensive line struggled [in this past Sunday's 23-20 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks]. The left tackle position is still a massive question mark. The run game has been really good, but how that holds up as defenses do more to stop it, with more tape out there now, remains to be seen."

New England's surprising 16-10 season-opening win at the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 8 coupled with Brissett's lackluster numbers understandably have some fans wanting to see if Maye can keep the Patriots competitive through what many thought would be a lost campaign for the organization. 

According to ESPN stats, Brissett heads into the Thursday night game at the 1-1 New York Jets ranked 29th in the league with 270 total passing yards and tied for 26th with an average of 5.3 yards gained per pass attempt on the season. He tossed just one touchdown pass with no interceptions over his first two starts. 

With all that said, Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald is among those who have mentioned that Brissett "faced the NFL’s second-highest pressure rate at 44.3%" across the campaign's first two weeks. Having Maye play behind an inept offensive line at this point of his rookie year could do more harm than good regarding his growth. 

"I’ve said this all along," Breer added about the Patriots' season. "The priority should be Maye’s development, period. The best place for him to develop right now is on the practice field, and not risk undoing the work the coaches have done with him to build up new habits and break old bad habits." 

It seems likely Mayo won't be in a rush to play Maye at the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4 on Sept. 29 considering San Francisco has a top-tier defense. With rookie signal-callers around the league struggling as Week 1 starters, it feels as if a healthy Brissett could remain atop New England's depth chart at least until the club's Week 14 bye in December.