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Drake Maye made his New England Patriots debut in the waning moments of a 24-3 loss to the New York Jets on Thursday.
The No. 3 overall pick saw limited action but made the most of the minutes he did play. He completed four of his eight passes for 22 yards while picking up 12 yards on two rushes, one of those rushes being for 11 yards.
Maye’s debut came as starter Jacoby Brissett struggled, throwing for just 98 yards in the blowout loss.
After the game, head coach Jerod Mayo wasn’t sure about Brissett’s status as QB1 and indicated the staff will at least consider a quarterback change:
While Patriots fans have seen little of Maye so far, they’re ready for New England to promote him to QB1.
It’s been a less-than-ideal start to the year for Brissett, who has just 270 passing yards and a touchdown with a 58.8 completion percentage through three games.
While fans are ready to see Maye starting for the Patriots, New England’s Week 4 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers could be an inopportune time to give him his first start.
The Patriots’ offensive line has struggled this year, giving up 11 sacks through three games, including seven on Thursday. Maye was in the game for just one drive and was sacked twice. If Maye starts against the 49ers next week, he would likely take a handful of sacks against a strong defensive line, which isn’t an ideal situation for a rookie quarterback.
On the other hand, getting Maye under center as soon as possible could be the best thing for his development, and that could factor into Mayo’s decision.