FOXBORO – NFL players typically like to stay in the moment, or at least, they claim they do.

They don’t like to talk about the past, and their focus is on the day-to-day, not the week-to-week.

But Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett was caught in a moment of honesty Wednesday morning when asked how his past NFL experience helps when it comes to dealing with adversity.

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“I think over these last three days, I think for one of the more times in my career, I actually reflected on a lot of situations and times that I’ve been in my career,” Brissett said.

Brissett has already faced plenty of adversity early this season. The Patriots are 1-2, he has yet to throw for 150 yards in a game, and he’s taken nine sacks and 10 QB hits. Jerod Mayo committed to Brissett as the Patriots’ starting quarterback after pulling an all-nighter Thursday night to re-watch the loss to the Jets, but immediately after the game, the head coach’s initial answer was “I don’t know” when asked if he’d make a change at quarterback to rookie Drake Maye.

“On me playing, not playing, different seasons of how things have gone,” Brissett continued. “I think over these last couple days, I really reflected. It puts a lot of things in perspective from a holistic viewpoint, but also from a day-to-day. It was funny that I actually did reflect. I’m not BS-ing, but I actually did reflect.”

Brissett said after Thursday night’s 24-3 loss to the Jets, when he took five sacks and was slower and slower getting up after each hit, that he always gets up. When asked Wednesday how he prepares for a game knowing that more hits will likely be coming behind an offensive line that has yet to settle, Brissett simply said, “Yeah, I just keep getting up.”

Brissett led the league in sacks during his first season as a starter in 2017, when he took 52 sacks as a member of the Colts. That was one of the things he reflected on during the Patriots’ mini-bye after Thursday’s loss.

“But you still keep getting up. Just that aspect. Plays and situational parts in the game, plays that I like and plays that I don’t like,” Brissett said. “You go to watch plays that played off a certain play. The league is kind of in a cycle, you know what I mean? These plays were working 25 years ago; we were all running the same plays. Just being able to look back on certain plays and certain situations as far as situational football and seasons of NFL life, just stuff like that.”

The Patriots’ offensive line was down to their fourth left tackle in Week 3, when rookie Caedan Wallace, who was already replacing Vederian Lowe, who replaced Chukwuma Okorafor, suffered an injury and gave way to Demontrey Jacobs. They were on their third option at left guard after Michael Jordan, who was filling in for injured second-year-pro Sidy Sow, suffered an injury, forcing Zach Thomas off of the bench. Neither Jacobs nor Thomas were with the Patriots during training camp; both players were claimed off waivers after final cuts.

“Just keep battling.” That’s Brissett’s message to the offensive line, which has let up the NFL’s highest pressure rate through three weeks.

“It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s coming,” Brissett said. “It’s about going out there, keep battling, put your best foot forward, and trust in the process that when it clicks, it clicks. … My confidence doesn’t change with the O-line. The plays are going to come. They’re going to settle in. It’s week-to-week each week, and if we put our best foot forward, we’ll be alright.”

It hasn’t been all bad for Brissett this season, despite his lack of production. The veteran quarterback is 42-of-69 for 368 yards with one touchdown, but he has yet to turn the ball over. Of the 35 dropbacks Brissett has faced pressure, he’s only been responsible for that pressure three times with one of the lowest own-pressure rates in the NFL at 8.6%.

“He’s handled himself like a true professional,” Mayo said Wednesday. “We had a captain’s meeting today, and it wasn’t like a big kumbaya type of meeting. It was more of a, ‘Let’s continue to get better each and every week,’ and I think that was really the main goal going into the season. I didn’t know what our record would be at this time, but our goal was to get better every week. Now, obviously, it was a poor showing in New York, but we’ll see what this team is made of going forward. We have a long trip out west, and we’ve got to be ready to play against a good, solid football team.”

If Brissett can’t turn around the offense, it feels like his days as a starter could be numbered. Mayo said Wednesday that Maye has looked good in practice. He added “it’s just practice” but also noted “you want to get a guy like that, obviously, on the football field.” When Mayo said Monday that Brissett is the Patriots’ starting quarterback, he prefaced it by saying, “right now.”

Maye replaced Brissett in the final minutes of Thursday’s game and was 4-of-8 for 22 yards with two carries for 13 yards. Other rookie quarterbacks are playing, and two of them – the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels and the Broncos’ Bo Nix – were thriving in Week 3.

Brissett wouldn’t reveal why he spent the last few days reflecting, but he has said in the past that he doesn’t take being an NFL starter for granted. The Patriots’ offense will need to right the ship for him to maintain that role.