Last Thursday, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo spent 90 seconds at the podium as he revealed his decision to go with nine-year veteran Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback headed into Week 1 in Cincinnati.
Most of those 90 seconds were spent reading a prepared statement on the decision, followed by two brief follow-up questions from the assembled media.
So on Monday, it only made sense that Mayo dug in deeper as to why the team is opting for Brissett over rookie Drake Maye - the only rookie quarterback taken in the top three of the 2024 NFL Draft who will not be the opening day starter for his ballclub this season.
Mayo reiterated that the decision to start Brissett was ultimately his, and that he believes the veteran gives the team the best chance to win at the current moment.
“We had our process of talking to the coaches, the coordinators, Eliot [Wolf] as well,” said Mayo. “But what I would say is ultimately, it was my decision to put who I think gives us the best chance to win football games.
“We're 100% behind Jacoby. He can't think about what's in the rear-view mirror. He has to be ready to drive this thing forward. I made sure that he understood that he has the full support of not only his teammates, but also the organization for him to go out there and perform at the level that we know he can.”
This decision came after weeks of mixed messaging from Mayo with the media. For those keeping score at home - Mayo called Brissett the starting quarterback, then said the battle for QB was an open competition, then told The Greg Hill Show that Maye had outplayed Brissett throughout the preseason, then ultimately named Brissett the official starter for Week 1.
On its surface, that doesn’t seem like a true quarterback competition. If the rookie outplayed the veteran over the course of a competition, logic would tell you that the rookie won the competition, thus winning the starting job.
But Mayo insisted on Monday that Maye vs. Brissett wasn’t just lip service.
“We kept saying, ‘Look, competition, competition,’” said Mayo. “That is something that I truly believe in. It was a real competition. It honestly came down to a few days where that separation started to happen.
“Now, the things that kind of went into that pie as far as how we came out with this conclusion - I mean, there were many things that were weighted differently. Once again, I just feel like me personally, as the head coach here, that Jacoby gives us our best chance.”
When Mayo was asked what needed to change for Maye to eventually see the field as the starting quarterback, he said the competition between the two will be ongoing throughout the year.
But even with that ongoing competition, Mayo said he doesn’t want Brissett to feel like “someone’s nipping at his heels.”
Alas, the mixed messaging continues for the first-year head coach.
“For me, we talk about competition in training camp, but quite frankly, it's competition each and every week - we'll see how it goes,” said Mayo. “But once again, I don't want Jacoby to feel like someone's nipping at his heels. He'll get the majority of the reps while at the same time continuing to develop Drake in other ways.
“Now, a lot of you guys, I guess the next question would be, ‘How do you do that?’ He will still participate in some of the team drills for the upcoming team. But I also think the ‘show team’ reps are very important. They've always been important. Even when I was a rookie – I also was a top-10 pick, but even as a rookie, I was on those ‘show teams.’ I think that's another place where you can develop, as well as the other tools that we've talked about here over the summer.”
By “show team,” Mayo is referring to scout team reps where Maye will be running plays from the upcoming opponents to help get the first-team defense ready week-to-week. So, for example, Maye and others on the “show team” will be mimicking what they believe Joe Burrow and the Bengals will bring to the field on Sunday.
“Anytime you can go out there and emulate a quarterback like Joe Burrow, I think it's very important,” said Mayo. “To play at that level, we hope to have a quarterback that can do that on a week after week basis. I do think those reps are important.”
On top of repping plays from opposing offenses, Mayo said that Maye will get mental reps by running some meetings for his position group, which he referred to as the “Feynman technique.”
“I do believe if you can teach it, you have a true understanding of the game plan,” said Mayo.
“He'll have certain projects and things like that that he'll be responsible for. In saying that - look, he'll still go through just a normal game week each and every week, and that's how it's going to be as of today.”
Mayo said he has no regrets with how he and the team handled the quarterback competition, and that he is “100%” confident with how the process played out. He said that even though he publicly said that Maye outplayed Brissett despite Brissett winning the job, he doesn’t feel there’s any sort of need to rectify the situation.
“I don't think I have to rectify that with the guys in the locker room, per se,” said Mayo. “I would say it goes back to the full body of work. I would say at the end of training camp, I think anyone could see that Drake was playing at a very high level. Now, in saying that, we had to take everything into consideration, including the spring and the beginning part of training camp. So hopefully that kind of clears it up for you.”
Mayo closed out Monday’s discussion on quarterbacks with one thing that was crystal clear:
If Brissett gets injured Week 1, there will be no hesitation to put Maye under center as soon as Week 2 at home against Seattle.
“If Jacoby was to get injured in the first week, 1000% Drake would be the next guy as the number 2 quarterback on our roster,” said Mayo.
“He has no other choice. He's our second-string quarterback.”