Why Maye-Brissett competition won't be like Jones vs. Newton

FOXBORO – Did the competition between Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye to begin the season take a turn on Tuesday?

Many are saying so. I’m not.

I heard every word of head coach Jerod Mayo’s answer to my question of whether he could envision Maye winning the job.

If you didn’t, here it is:  

“If he comes out here and he lights it up -- once again, it goes back to the quality of reps. It could absolutely happen. … Coming out of the spring, Jacoby looks like the starting quarterback. Now with that being said, he’ll have competition. Let’s not forget about even Joe Milton; let’s not forget about (Bailey) Zappe. All those guys will have opportunities to go out there and be the starting quarterback in Week 1. 

So, no predetermined protective bubble for Drake? No mandatory apprenticeship?

“Nah, not at all,” Mayo replied. “I mean, you've seen that work in the past, right? You look at other quarterbacks, the Green Bay quarterbacks, where they had a lot of time. You look at those situations, and they were able to sit back. There have also been situations where a guy comes right in, right now, and he balls out. We'll see what happens when we get out here on the field. 

What’s Maye have to do? What’s the evaluation? 

“To me, it goes back to the same word, and it's competition,” said Mayo. “It's not about everyone else. It's about, 'Does this guy go out and perform better than Jacoby?' No matter who we're talking about.”

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Mayo used the word “competition” 10 times in his press conference. The message is obvious. We were 4-13 last year. Nobody’s guaranteed anything. Every job is up for grabs. Go get it.

Let’s be realistic, though. Kyle Dugger isn’t getting beaten out. Jabrill Peppers isn’t getting beaten out. And while Brissett’s situation is different in that he’s on a one-year deal in front of the third overall pick, it’s a fat chance he’s getting beaten out because what the Patriots need in early 2024 is competency.

As Mayo said earlier in his press conference, “I don’t think there’s any doubt Jacoby is the starting quarterback at this point in time. We can look at these other quarterbacks on the roster, at the same time, it’s about competition. When we get out on the field this summer, with the pads on, we’ll see how it all plays out. Coming out of the spring, I think it’s clear that Jacoby is the most pro-ready guy we have. He’s played a lot of football.”

Brissett’s the hand-picked pilot for offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s offense. He’s been in it. He understands it. He’s got 79 NFL games and 48 starts under his belt in eight seasons.

Maye made 26 starts in his college career and played 30 games. His final season at North Carolina was muddled by a change at coordinator, and the offense Van Pelt’s putting in, which is timing-based and predicated on all kinds of footwork nuance, is new to him.

Maye made great strides in a month this spring. But he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know (which he’d probably admit) and he’s not going to know everything by the first week of September.

Dangling the carrot for Maye and every other player trying to overtake the guy in front of him is what happens in late July. Why wouldn’t you want the 21-year-old to feel the urgency to accelerate his progress and take over? Look at the quarterback prices across the league. Do you want a redshirt year for a guy on his rookie deal and only get three years of modestly-priced play out of him? Course not.

But Maye chasing Brissett isn’t like Mac Jones chasing Cam Newton. When that happened, the Patriots were still a relatively well-stocked team on offense. The offense in 2021 was pivoting from the Newton-centric offense of 2020 back to the one that emphasized quick decisions and accuracy.

There was little gap between Jones and Newton in that realm and Jones outperformed Newton that summer. Jones was a more finished product, albeit with a far lower physical ceiling.

Brissett’s far ahead of Maye in experience running this scheme and – while Maye is bigger, stronger and faster – it’s not by much.

Beginning Wednesday we’ll start to see how serious the Patriots are about giving Maye every chance to win the job by seeing how many reps he gets with the starters. If, as happened with Jones, the reps start coming fast and furious, that will be a tell.

Do the Patriots have the time to spare on developing Maye in this camp while also getting ready for the Bengals in less than two months? That’s the question.