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Jerod Mayo won’t let Patriots’ O-line woes stop Drake Maye from seizing starting role
"If Drake beats out Jacoby, he earned that role."
FOXBOROUGH — After Drake Maye logged all of six snaps against the Panthers in New England’s preseason opener last week, Jerod Mayo acknowledged that the Patriots’ porous offensive line might have played a factor in those limited reps.
“That’s always a consideration,” Mayo said when asked if New England’s offensive line depth chart played a part in Maye’s light workload. “If he’s in there, you want him in there with the starting offensive line. We gotta protect that guy. Not saying that we don’t have to protect the other guys, but that absolutely did go into it.”
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Given Maye’s importance to this team’s long-term outlook, New England’s limitations in pass protection, and the minuscule odds of the 2024 Patriots being a playoff-ready squad, the rationale is there for Mayo and his staff to keep Maye in bubble wrap for the time being.
New England’s O-line woes persisted this week against the Eagles, especially during a joint practice on Tuesday where Maye’s final two-minute drill was unraveled by the pressure doled out by Philly.
On Thursday night, the current top left tackle on New England’s depth chart in Vederian Lowe was beat clean in the third quarter — leading to Nolan Smith slamming Maye into the turf.
It was a stark reminder of the punishment that might await Maye and the rest of New England’s QBs this fall behind an offensive line still severely lacking in overall talent.
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But after Maye led New England on scoring drives in two of his four series on Thursday night, Mayo did make one thing abundantly clear: if Maye beats out Jacoby Brissett for the QB1 job this preseason, the O-line won’t be any sort of an impediment that will keep him away from a starting role in 2024.
“We always talk about competition, and that’s at all spots,” Mayo said. “So even if Drake beats out Jacoby, 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.”
Maye made the most of his first significant stretch of reps with New England on Thursday, completing six of his 11 throws for 47 yards while rushing for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Even with New England’s struggles in pass protection, Maye’s ability to scramble outside of the pocket and deliver quick throws did limit just how often the Eagles were able to deliver drive-killing plays against the Patriots’ rebuilding offense.
Add in a lackluster night for presumed Week 1 starter Brissett (3-of-7, 17 yards, 1 INT), and the case can be made that Maye did slightly narrow the gap between him and his veteran teammate with one preseason game left on the docket.
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“He had great composure,” Mayo said of Maye. “I thought it was a good drive. I thought he went out there and did a lot of good things. Hopefully he can build on that and we’ll see how this week goes.”
While Maye’s own development and execution in real-game situations might be the top determinant as far as whether he starts in 2024, Mayo and his staff would be able to breathe a bit easier if New England’s offensive line does shore some things up moving forward.
“There were definitely some ups and some downs,” Mayo said of New England’s offensive line. “I would say there’s a dramatic drop-off, not really physically, but just knowing what to do between the first line and the second and third guys.
“They have to get better as a whole, as a unit. They just have to get better, and that comes from playing football games. We have another preseason game coming up. We’re going to play. That’s the only way you’re going to get better at football is playing football.”
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