FOXBORO -- The Patriots have lost perhaps their most irreplaceable player to injury. David Andrews will undergo shoulder surgery, head coach Jerod Mayo announced on Wednesday, knocking the center and captain out for the 2024 season.
But that won't impact how the Patriots handle their rookie quarterback, Mayo insisted.
"I would say those are independent of each other," Mayo said. "You always want to have a veteran center in there. But that being said, they don't tie in together."
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The Patriots have long held that they have a plan for the No. 3 overall pick. It's a plan that has not involved starting him in any games through the first five weeks of the season; even after a meager offensive performance on Sunday against the 49ers, the Patriots will start Jacoby Brissett again in Week 5 against the Dolphins.
Maye has impressed in practice, and he's getting 30 percent of the starting reps as well as scout-team reps in order to refine his skills. But the Patriots have not yet identified a date for his debut as the team's starter.
MORE PATRIOTS COVERAGE
Though Mayo said it wasn't a factor, it would make some sense if Andrews' injury impacted the team's willingness to play Maye. He's the most experienced and one of the best players on a line that has struggled mightily this season.
He's also the brains of the operation when it comes to protection calls and adjustments prior to the snap. In offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt's West Coast scheme, loads of pre-play responsibility rides on the shoulders of the center.
"He kind of runs the show out there," Brissett said Wednesday. "I'm just kind of co-hosting."
With Andrews out, Nick Leverett figures to be the top fill-in. He played well in San Francisco in an emergency situation, but after spending the majority of his career prior to this season at guard, he struggled at times as the pivot during training camp.
Mayo indicated that when Maye will play is independent of the situation on the line. But if the team was waiting and hoping that the line would coalesce a bit before trotting out their 22-year-old signal-caller, those hopes took a massive blow when they learned Andrews would have to go under the knife.