Patriots
“That’s just not the game plan anymore because it’s such a reactionary league from owners and fans.”
Through four weeks of the 2024 NFL season, the Patriots and Jerod Mayo have resisted calls to appoint rookie Drake Maye as the team’s starting quarterback.
Those calls have only grown louder this week, given Jacoby Brissett’s two-turnover performance Sunday against the Niners and the overall dysfunction present on New England’s offensive unit.
But count Jets quarterback and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers among those who believe that Mayo is making the right call by keeping Maye on the sideline.
Speaking on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, Rodgers commended Mayo for not putting Maye in a potentially perilous situation at this stage of his development.
“I go back to the patience with Coach Mayo out there and just to have the patience to have his kid develop, to have Drake develop. Jacoby’s a proven starter in the league for a long time,” Rodgers said. “My situation was very rare, and I would say the same thing about (Packers QB) Jordan (Love), where I got to and he got to sit behind future Hall of Famers who can show what it looks like, can allow you to learn without having out thrown in there or have your confidence shredded at all, to work on your game, to learn defenses, to become the master of the offense.
“And then in spots, you get a chance to play. The preseason, an injury here and there. You start to gain confidence with that, and then when you hit the ground running, you got to go. And that’s why last year was a make-or-break year (for Love) just like it was in 2008 for me.”
Even though Maye did make his NFL debut in Week 3 against Rodgers and the Jets, the Patriots put the third-overall pick in the game with just 4:24 left on the clock in a 24-3 lopsided loss.
Maye ultimately led one drive in garbage time for New England, showcasing some of the athleticism and arm strength that have the Patriots hopeful about his long-term growth at the NFL level.
But after that performance from the rookie, Mayo stuck with Brissett on Sunday against San Francisco — later declaring on Monday that the 31-year-old veteran is “100 percent” New England’s starter moving forward.
Rodgers can certainly speak to the value of getting additional time to develop beyond game reps. He spent the first three seasons of his NFL career backing up Brett Favre in Green Bay, while the current Packers QB in Love backed up Rodgers from 2020-22.
“That’s just not the game plan anymore because it’s such a reactionary league from owners and fans where it’s like, ‘We lost, put the other guy in. We lost. Fire this guy, get rid of this guy.’ That’s not a great way to operate,” Rodgers said of NFL teams giving young QBs time to develop on their own timeline. “If you’re an owner, you hire the guys who you think can get the job done and you trust them.
“And if you’re a GM and you hire a head coach, you trust him to get the job done. You set the plan and if the plan is good enough Day 1, it should be good after Week 4, should be good after Week 10, should be good enough in Year 2. ‘Is this the time we’ve got to play this guy?’ When he’s ready, when the system is ready, when the guy’s around him are ready, then play him. Sometimes that’s in Year 1, or sometimes you don’t even have a choice.”
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