The New England Patriots aren't going to throw rookie quarterback Drake Maye into the fire to begin the 2024 NFL season.
The team named veteran Jacoby Brissett the starting QB last week in a decision that many pundits and former players have agreed with. There are plenty of examples of quarterbacks drafted in the first round who didn't play to begin their rookie year and went on to have productive careers. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Jordan Love are three notable examples from the last seven years.
You can include Patriots legend Devin McCourty among the group that thinks the team made the right decision to sit Maye to start the season. He explained why on the latest episode of NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Talk Podcast with Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry.
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"You go into a preseason game and he looks great, plays well, then you go into a third preseason game, he plays well again. And I think everyone's like, 'Oh my goodness, he needs to be out there,'" McCourty said. "And in a real game setting, there were four illegal formations (against the Commanders). Jacoby got absolutely killed on the first drive of the game. When you look at that, you're now this young quarterback -- he would have to overcome some things that happened in the game without him doing anything wrong, not making any rookie mistakes.
"I think you got to be careful of telling a quarterback, 'Hey, we know you're young, but we need you to save the day every single play. You need to make sure you can put us in the perfect play, i.e. Tom Brady put us in a perfect play. Get us out of a bad play, get us into a good play. Hey, see the adjustments. Hey, understand the coverage. We need you to do that every single time. And hey, David Andrews is going to be great for you, but if David Andrews ever goes out, let's expect it to look a little bit like the Commanders game.' And let's not forget, those issues weren't against starters that they played against in the Commanders game."
After watching Maye perform so well in the preseason, might some players -- especially those on the defensive side of the ball -- wonder why he's not playing to begin the regular season?
"I think the realistic thing that defensive guys have to do is you have to pay attention to everything," McCourty said. "What it looks like when we play against both of these quarterbacks in practice, what it looks like when we go on our two-minute drills and we know we're running our real stuff and we're coming on a blitz. They know better than anybody what they see out on the field, how those two quarterbacks look."
"So they're definitely going to have opinions on what they see and what they think should happen. And their opinions don't care about, and they shouldn't care about, the future of the New England Patriots, because when you're a current player, there is no promise. All right, next year Drake Maye is going to be the starter. Not everybody on that team knows that they're going to be a part of that next year. So you can't sit down and be like, 'Hey, I'm here for the long haul.' It doesn't work that way.
"You're definitely going to have difference of opinions. But I think the main thing is as a team, as a defense, overall, you have to believe whatever the decision is that's made, and then continue to go out there and do your job, do whatever your role is on the team.
"You don't want to ever have it turn into kind of what they've had over the last few years with Mac (Jones), and then (Bailey) Zappe's coming in, and then it's like back and forth, 'Oh man, maybe they should just put Will Grier in there, let Will Grier be the quarterback.' You don't want to create that. So I think that's what they're going to have to balance through the season. I looked at the first four games this year -- you got the Bengals, Seahawks, the Jets and 49ers the first four games. That would be intense to put a rookie quarterback out there."
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McCourty's last point is a good one. The Patriots' schedule is brutal, especially early in the season. Five of their first six games are against teams expected to make the playoffs. That's a tough scenario for a rookie to face at the start of his career.
Allowing Maye to sit back, learn from a veteran like Brissett, and get used to the NFL schedule and routine, could benefit him long term.
Also in this episode:
- Phil Perry and Tom E. Curran discuss why the Patriots may be better than expected this season.
- The latest on the offensive line situation entering Week 1.
- Reacting to Jerod Mayo saying he has “no regrets” about how he handled the announcement of the starting QB.
- Devin McCourty shares his thoughts on Mayo’s first summer as head coach.
- Is the Patriots offense still a unit that can’t be the one to ‘win a game’?
- Any chance Bill Belichick has so much fun doing media that he decides to retire on his own from coaching?