Jerod Mayo has left the door open for a quarterback change. In previous weeks, the first-year head coach has consistently reiterated that Jacoby Brissett was his starter when asked the day after a game. Today, he used an out by saying the team hadn't had their full staff meeting before adding, "I think I've been pretty consistent. And my messaging is that every single week, we're all - or I should say every single day - we're all being evaluated, and it's no different now. That's kind of how I see it."
When asked if that would be a topic of conversation in that meeting, Mayo tried to skirt the issue, making it about the entirety of the operation rather than just the quarterback position.
"We're in a solution-driven business, and we aren't playing good football," he said. "So, we have to look at every single unit and every single player and figure out how we use this roster to go out there and win games."
But after another game in which the passing offense was stuck in the mud, and the boo birds were out in full force (I counted at least five such instances after a failed offensive possession), Mayo may finally get what I believe has been his wish and desire all along - to put Drake Maye in the driver's seat and, if all goes well, never look back.
Brissett threw for 160 yards in Sunday's 15-10 loss to the Dolphins, completing just 18-of-34 passes. While he didn't turn the ball over, as he had done the previous week, his accuracy and decision-making came into question multiple times, including a bizarre choice to throw to Hunter Henry on what turned out to be the game's final play. The Pats had no timeouts and did not have enough time to get to the line of scrimmage and spike the ball after a completion 20 yards down the field. As a veteran, Brissett had to know to throw the ball near the sideline to get one more play and did not, ending another punchless afternoon of offensive football. He did not, and the final seconds ticked off the clock as the team suffered its fourth straight loss.
"It just wasn't good enough," said Mayo of Brissett's play. "I thought we played well enough defensively and on special teams to win the football game and look as the quarterback - and he understands this - he touched the ball in every single play, and we didn't win the game or score enough points to win the game. And I think he would echo that same sentiment: that it wasn't good enough".
With pressure rates still at a record-setting pace (over 40% yesterday), it's been difficult to ascertain how much of the passing game's ineptitude directly correlated to Brissett's play. But starting in the second half of the Jets game, the 31-year-old's play has sharply declined, and the film shows a quarterback who is now bailing on cleaner pockets or taking his eyes off his receivers in search of safety. In no way should that be taken as a shot at Brissett. He has proven to be as tough as they come and has taken enough kill shots to end a lesser signal caller. But his deteriorating play is now directly impacting winning and losing more than it did through the first two-and-a-half weeks, and at the very least, Brissett might need some time to recalibrate on the sideline.
Meanwhile, Maye's performance against the Jets in mop-up duty two Thursday nights ago was hardly a definitive case for why he should move into the starting role. He misread a couple of plays, should have thrown one interception, and escaped a clean pocket for no good reason (remember, Maye hadn't been getting the snot kicked out of him in weeks prior).
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt quickly pointed out that several of the footwork issues Maye had entered the league with and that the team had been actively trying to clean up showed up in those moments. The fear of regression on that front is real.
However, the fear of a lost season may have overtaken those concerns, with the hope that Maye's playmaking abilities and desire to push the ball down the field will soften some of the mistakes they expect to see when he finally takes over. It's risky. The build-up of scar tissue is real and can be hard to reverse (Mac Jones and Zach Wilson immediately jump to mind), but the franchise sliding further into irrelevance is not good for job security, be it in the General Manager's office or on the coaching level. And saving one's own skin is bound to come first at some point...like, say, right now.