FOXBORO — If Drake Maye can outplay Jacoby Brissett over the final three-and-a-half weeks of the season, he’ll start Week 1, offensive line issues or not.

That was head coach Jerod Mayo’s message Thursday night when asked if he’d have any concerns about starting Maye, the 2024 third-overall pick, behind an offensive line that might not give him enough time in the pocket.

“For me, we always talk about competition, and that’s at all spots. So even if Drake beats out Jacoby [Brissett], I mean, he earned that role. And we don’t really take that into consideration when he’s ready to go, and if he’s better than Jacoby, then he’ll play; he’ll start,” Mayo said.

Related Articles

Callahan: Drake Maye flashes promise in Patriots’ preseason loss to Eagles

Patriots’ defense still brings pressure vs. Eagles after trading Matthew Judon

What we learned in Patriots’ 14-13 preseason loss to the Eagles

Patriots rookie receiver carted off with leg injury in preseason game vs. Eagles

Why Jerod Mayo called Matthew Judon trade ‘win-win’ for Patriots, player

Maye starting over Brissett in Week 1 still looks like a longshot, but the competition between the two quarterbacks is at least closer after Thursday night’s 14-13 loss. Brissett struggled, going 3-of-7 for 17 yards with an interception in three offensive series, while Maye provided some excitement off the bench.

Maye’s passing stat line looks humdrum — he was 6-of-11 for 47 yards — but he delivered a perfect deep ball that rookie wide receiver Javon Baker couldn’t hold onto as he fell to the ground, and the rookie QB carried the ball four times for 15 yards with a touchdown on a well-executed zone read.

Mayo was impressed with his young QB.

“He had great composure. I thought it was a good drive. I thought he went out there and did a lot of good things,” Mayo said. “Hopefully he can build on that and we’ll see how this week goes.”

Maye has yet to take a single first-team rep through three-plus weeks of training camp. His only snaps behind the Patriots’ still-unsettled starting offensive line have come in his two preseason performances.

The Patriots will practice Saturday, Sunday and Monday before an off-day Tuesday. Then they’ll practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before a walk-through Saturday and their third and final preseason game in Washington against the Commanders on Sunday.

Then the Patriots will trim their roster and start preparing for Week 1 against the Bengals. So, at this point, there isn’t much time for Maye to pass Brissett on the QB depth chart. But after Maye looked better and showed more poise in a game situation than he has in practice, it might finally be worth making this a real competition and allowing Maye more snaps behind the starting offensive line in practice.

“One of the reasons we drafted Drake was, through the interview process you could kind of tell this was an even-keeled guy,” Mayo said. “I think you guys can probably see it from the stands. This guy doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. He was like that in college. He was probably like that as a kid. He remains that way now, which is a good thing for a quarterback. Those guys, they have to maintain their composure and get the call to the huddle and get those guys out of the huddle, get them ready to go. He’s always been like that in my mind.”