Buckley: Jerod Mayo makes Jacoby Brissett the Patriots starter, but it’s still complicated

If you’re a Patriots fan in search of a rosy outlook for this season and (particularly) beyond, here ya go: Drake Maye eventually steps in as New England’s No. 1 quarterback and performs like a No. 3 draft pick. With the “quarterback situation” no longer an albatross hovering over Gillette Stadium, executive VP of player personnel Eliot Wolf is thus able to focus on assembling a support system around Maye in the form of a sturdy offensive line and competent pass catchers. And just like that, the Patriots are back in the contending business in 2025.

Again, that’s the rosy future.

As for right now, using Patriots coach Jerod Mayo’s 73-second news conference Thursday morning as our jumping-off point, New England’s quarterback situation is no less muddled than it was the day Tom Brady enlisted with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This isn’t to say the Patriots are wrong to begin the season with 31-year-old journeyman Jacoby Brissett lining up behind center. That has more or less been the plan all along, has it not? It was no surprise, then, when Mayo, in his breathless, in-and-out-the-door media availability Thursday morning, said, “We have decided — or I have decided — that Jacoby Brissett will be our starting quarterback this season.”

LIVE: Jerod Mayo Press Conference 8/29: https://t.co/jlmYbqevKA

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 29, 2024

OK, so Mayo fumbled the pronouns there for a moment, but he held onto the ball. I have decided … Just as he made clear on Wednesday, three times no less, this is his decision. And if it doesn’t work out, he said, “Blame me.” He then repeated it: “Blame me.”

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From the perspective of what’s right for the Patriots right now, there’s a lot to be said for opening the season with Brissett and placing Maye in the wings as the eager, talented understudy. You’re probably sick of seeing the name “David Carr” attached to every media account of what the Patriots are doing at quarterback, but Carr embodies the scary campfire story for the kids about what can happen when you throw a young, untested quarterback to the wolves: No. 1 pick by the Houston Texans in 2002, started every game, got sacked a league-high 76 times. In fact, Carr was the league-leading quarterback tackling dummy in three of his first four seasons in the NFL. Looking at it that way, then, you don’t want Maye to get banged around the way Carr did — or, for older fans in our audience, the way Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 pick Jim Plunkett was punished during his rookie season with the Patriots in 1971.

If protecting Maye was the plan, the Patriots should have held tight to that script. Start Brissett. Maybe sign another veteran to bring some experience to the quarterback room. Hand Maye a ball cap and a clipboard and instruct him to watch, listen and learn. Meanwhile, the Pats could do what they could to bring a measure of professionalism and consistency to the offensive line. Later in the season — jot down whatever week suits your sensibilities — Maye could step in as the starter, providing a sneak preview of 2025 and beyond.

But then Mayo began to heighten the rhetoric about this being a “competition” between Brissett and Maye. Nothing wrong with that — it’s a standard item in a coach’s motivational toolbox. But things got complicated when Mayo, making his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “Greg Hill Show,” said, “This was, or is, a true competition. It wasn’t fluff or anything like that. It’s a true competition. And I would say at this current point, you know, Drake has outplayed Jacoby.”

Mayo went on to ladle out the disclaimer that the Patriots would need to “take in the full body of work, going all the way back to the spring and the beginning of training camp.”

If it truly was a competition, which Mayo insists it was, and if Maye truly did overtake Brissett in the all-important “Who’s Outplaying Whom” metric, then we would have had a different breathless announcement Thursday morning. But Mayo is going with Brissett, and it’s not unfair to put it out there that the veteran got the job by default.

Or to put it another way, Brissett is the starting quarterback because the Patriots are worried Maye is going to get David Carred.

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Mayo wasn’t scheduled to meet with the media Thursday morning, though he was expected to meet with Brissett and Maye to discuss his decision. But then a light bulb went off at Gillette Stadium: The locker room was going to be open to the media Thursday morning, meaning the beat writers would be talking with dozens of chatty twentysomethings who grew up on social media. Recognizing that would be a lousy way for the six-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots to unveil their Week 1 quarterback, Mayo rushed in Thursday moaning and then rushed right out, closing with, “Told ya.”

If the Patriots were hoping for ongoing point, counterpoint and intrigue with their quarterback situation, they’ve hit a home run that would make David Ortiz proud. If Brissett struggles, even a little, the Play Maye chants will follow. And the outside noise directed at the offensive line might get intense, especially since its spotty play during the preseason is partly why Brissett is starting. Look for Pats games to have a college basketball vibe this season, with fans pointing at the offensive line and shouting, “It’s all your fault!”

The mixed messaging is getting New England’s season, and Jerod Mayo’s coaching career, and Drake Maye’s playing career, off to a rocky start.