Jerod Mayo Gives Mixed Answer on Jacoby Brissett’s Employment Status

When Jacoby Brissett was announced as the Patriots’ starting quarterback last month, coach Jerod Mayo said the organization supported him 100 percent.

With a below-average offensive line and low expectations for the season as a whole, the plan was for veteran Brissett to start games, run the offense and take the hits while rookie Drake Maye watches and learns.

After three games of the season, Mayo made an appearance and Mayo said he was unsure of Brissett’s status as a starter. He was asked directly if he would consider making a quarterback change.

“I don’t know,” Mayo said. “We talk every week about competing for a position. So we’ll get together as coaches and see how it goes.”

With the Patriots’ 24-3 loss to the Jets behind us, here are some final thoughts on the action.

What happened to being 100% behind Brissett?

Some people think that playing Maye is the right decision. Mayo says he outplayed Brissett in the preseason. He is expected to be the quarterback of the future and will have to play someday. Some will say that he is missing out on valuable experience by sitting on the bench.

Others believe the risk of Maye getting injured or losing confidence behind that offensive line outweighs the benefits of starting him immediately.

Regardless of what one thinks about who starts at quarterback, one thing is clear: Mayo’s message after Sunday’s game doesn’t make it seem like the Patriots are truly behind Brissett 100 percent.

It seems like he gave a pretty lukewarm response about a guy who managed the game well enough to beat the Bengals in the opener, had a competitive performance against the Seahawks and completed two-thirds of his passes against the Jets.

Brissett has yet to turn the ball over this season, regularly takes hits behind that patchwork offensive line and still refuses to throw his teammates under the bus.

“I’m a big guy, I can take it. I’m always going to get back up,” Brissett said after being tackled five times. “That’s one thing about me, I’m always going to get back up. Find ways to make plays, man. That’s what it comes down to. It’s football, I’m supposed to get hit. I didn’t sign up for this game not to get hit.”

Brissett’s stats aren’t great. He’s averaging 122.6 yards per game and has only thrown one touchdown pass. He’s only thrown two passes of 20+ yards.

However, he was an instant upgrade over Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe simply by taking care of the ball. These Patriots are probably one field goal away from being 2-1 against Seattle instead of 1-2. More importantly, the offensive line issues aren’t going to go away if Maye arrives.

This will be Maye’s team one day. Any player selected in the top five will get a chance, and Brissett signed a one-year deal.

Will his time come soon? We will have to wait and see.

Escape monitoring

Rhamondre Stevenson has been a workhorse for the Patriots over the first two games, racking up 20-plus carries in each game.

He was limited to six touches and 23 yards against the Jets who shut down New England’s running game.

There’s a trend emerging in Stevenson’s game that could prove worrisome. He has yet to go a game without committing a fumble this season.

“I have to hold the ball,” Stevenson said when asked to identify the problem. “I just have to hold it.”

Douglas gets touches

After recording zero receptions and zero targets last week, DeMario Douglas rebounded with a season-high seven receptions for 69 yards.

It was a positive sign for the second-year receiver who had expressed frustration with his lack of touches earlier in the week.

The Patriots made a more concerted effort to involve him in the game plan and he responded by being the only receiver to get more than 13 yards.

New England still needs a lot more production from its receivers and bringing in Douglas seems like a solid step in that direction.

Where is the rush to the smuggler?

Aaron Rodgers looked very, very comfortable as he deconstructed the Patriots with short passes on Thursday night.

He was sacked twice: Deatrich Wise hit him early in the first quarter and Joshua Uche broke free in the fourth.

But overall, Rodgers seemed to have plenty of time to stay in the pocket and make his throws. He didn’t need to use his 40-year-old legs very often.

Keion White remains the only Patriot with more than one sack (4) this season.

The Patriots lost two of their top rushers, Matthew Judon and Christian Barmore. The pass rush wasn’t the same without them.