After another blowout loss in Week 4 - losing in San Francisco 30-13 to fall to 1-3 on the season - Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo joined The Greg Hill Show for his weekly “Mayo Monday” interview to discuss the current state of the team.
The bulk of his conversation with the morning show revolved around his team’s decision to keep Jacoby Brissett in-place as the starting quarterback, despite his obvious struggles behind a depleted offensive line.
“As of this morning, going into ‘Miami Week,’ Jacoby Brissett is still your starter?” asked WEEI’s Courtney Cox.
“Still the starter,” Mayo quickly replied with no hesitation.
So, at the moment, number three overall pick Drake Maye remains the backup quarterback.
“I think the hard part about it - look, all the fans, you guys here, media, they want to see the third overall pick play,” said Mayo. “And I understand the frustration from the fans. I understand the frustration from you guys in here.
“What we’re doing is what we think is best. What I’m doing is what I think is best for the Patriots today, and also in the future. And that’s how I have to look at these things. You guys look at these things as - you know, on a week-to-week basis, there’s a combination of multiple things that we have to deal with.”
Courtney pressed Mayo on his comment about doing what’s best for the future of the team, asking if Maye missing out on valuable in-game reps with other young players on the team will hurt his development overall.
“That’s part of the things we talk about all the time,” said Mayo. “And I would say, even Drake staying after practice, throwing with some of the young receivers, help trying to build that chemistry, has definitely been good.
“I think we have a good nucleus going forward. We still have to continue to always look for ways to get the roster better. But once again, I understand your frustration. Like, whether he plays eight games, full season, whatever it is - we came into the season with a plan, and we’re going to execute that plan knowing that we’ll take our bumps and bruises along the way.”
There’s that “plan” again.
“What was that plan?” asked WEEI’s Greg Hill. “Because you bring that up a lot.”
“No, because you guys were bringing that up a lot,” said Mayo. “This goes back to training camp. Like, I feel like you guys brought it up - not this place in particular.
“You know, we sat in here and said during training camp, like, ‘Drake’s getting better, Drake’s getting better, Drake’s getting better,’ you know? And then, Jacoby’s out there, and it’s like ‘Well, why isn’t Drake playing?’ Like, he’s getting better, we have a plan, we’re gonna stick to it. Even though you guys said - and once again, I’m not saying you guys - you know -”
“You said he outplayed Jacoby Brissett.” Greg interjected.
“By the end of training camp, he did,” answered Mayo. “So by the end of training camp - I understand what people saw there. But I would say from our perspective, look he did outperform Jacoby by the time we got to the end of camp. What we had to do was go to the regular season knowing that, ‘Look, who gives us the best chance of winning right now?’ And so just because you’re trending better, in a certain way, doesn’t mean you outperformed from a holistic standpoint. Talking about the spring all the way through training camp.”
Is anyone else thoroughly confused right now? It’s OK if you are, because it’s confusing.
When asked by Greg if there was one specific reason for why Maye wouldn’t be making his first career start in Week 5 against the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium - positing the idea that it could be because the team is worried Maye will get injured behind an offensive line that has allowed 16 sacks over the last three weeks - Mayo said there wasn’t “once specific reason.”
“I can’t give you one specific reason,” said Mayo. “There are a multitude of things that - multitude of factors that I take into account.”
So Mayo made it abundantly clear that Brissett is going to be the guy moving forward. He’s QB1, and the team is behind him. He is the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots.
…except for when Mayo said this towards the end of the interview:
“When we say those things, like, ‘Alright, this guy is starting’ - like, we always, always reserve the right to do something else, no matter what the position is. And that’s how I operate. And like I said, I’m always gonna do what’s best for the organization.”
He loves to keep the door open just enough for us to keep talking about it, doesn’t he?