Don’t worry, this isn’t an obnoxious postgame argument that the Patriots should have started Drake Maye against the 49ers in Week 4.
It wasn’t the time. New England rolled out their fourth left tackle in as many games and lost starting center David Andrews in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett weathered 10 hits and 7 sacks. It’s not even October, so it’s too early to complain about the rookie riding the pine as a backup.
But at the risk of being fussy, the Patriots missed another chance to see their Number 3 overall pick in a real game when they threw Brissett back out with about five minutes left in another lopsided loss. The stakes were just as low as his fourth quarter debut against the Jets, so why not give Maye the experience?
Head coach Jerod Mayo was asked postgame whether there was any thought to putting Maye in the game late.
“No thoughts there,” he answered.
Mayo may have been answering in solidarity with Brissett, who’s become a punching bag week after week behind the weakest pass protection in the NFL. He reiterated Brissett’s standing as the starter postgame, but noted he (obviously) hadn’t watched the film yet.
Does it seem doltish to grumble about garbage time? Maybe. But the Patriots’ trip out to San Francisco underlined how boring, plodding, and limited the Patriots offense is. There’s no room for error, because there’s no deep ball opportunity. Jacoby Brissett can’t afford a pick-six, three fumbles, and an additional turnover, because the only whiff of an explosive was a nearly-inbounds catch by rookie Ja’Lynn Polk.
Mayo and his staff continue to preach a goal of improving every week. It’s not a goal they’re reaching. With the exception of a 5-yard endzone connection between Brissett and Austin Hooper, the team looks to be moving in the opposite direction.
That’s all to say that this offense is not sustainable, and it’s not growing. It’s clear Eliot Wolf’s perfect rebuild would consist of a veteran quarterback shepherding an entire bridge year with Maye taking a redshirt season to learn behind the scenes with Ben McAdoo and T.C. McCartney. That’s just not realistic with 13 games left on the calendar. Either by injury or by his own talent, Maye is likely to take the reigns at some point and every chance he has to improve without hurting the overall team is valuable.
Remember how this column started: late September is too early to whine about the rookie remaining the backup. Maye has to earn the job in practice through his 30% of snaps with the starters and his reps on the scout team. He doesn’t just get gifted the start because fans have ants in their pants.
In the meantime, one has to wonder why the “opportunity was too good,” as Mayo said, to keep Maye from getting into the Jets game, but not quite right against the Niners. Sure, Nick Bosa is a terror, but San Francisco’s pass rush was slightly weakened with the loss of Javon Hargrave to injury before the game. The Patriots offensive line was down as many starters by the fourth quarter Sunday as they were against the Jets, plus Caedan Wallace. Starting tackle Vederian Lowe was out for both performances. Does Andrews’ presence change the situation that dramatically? Maybe. He is, without a doubt, the anchor of the line. But Maye took plenty of snaps from Nick Leverett in preseason. He took sacks against the Jets but also showed his mobility, ability to keep his head about him, and competency in self-preservation in the preseason and against New York. It's an inconsistent approach in Maye's development.
Brissett will likely start again in Week 5, and there’s a lot of season left. He and Mayo both stuck to that message postgame. It’s early, it’s early, it’s early.
And yet, by keeping Maye on the bench Sunday, New England passed on the chance to once again let him wade into the shallow end of the rarefied waters of real NFL playing time. The stakes were low. Maybe he’d have gone a little deeper and been able to tread water. Maybe he would have executed a flip turn, or maybe, with the offensive line in shambles, he would have looked like he needed water wings. There’s no way to know, now.