FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Until he hears otherwise, Jacoby Brissett is planning to take the field as the Patriots starting quarterback in Week 1 against Cincinnati.
“In my eyes I am,” Brissett said Tuesday during an appearance on WEEI radio in Boston. “I haven’t heard anything differently. So that’s what I have to go off of.”
The nine-year NFL veteran has been engaged in a competition for the starting job this summer with rookie first-round draft pick Drake Maye. It began with Brissett in the driver’s seat until a recent push by Maye that led coach Jerod Mayo to declare after New England’s exhibition finale that he felt Maye had outplayed Brissett overall.
But Mayo also couched those remarks by adding that it wouldn’t be the only factor in deciding who opened the season as the starter.
“One is the total body of work, whether we’re talking about the spring or the entirety of training camp,” Mayo said. “I would also say oftentimes we forget about just the overall experience that a guy like Jacoby has, which will also be weighted in the decision that we have to make here in the near future. But I’m happy with the way those guys are battling it out, and hopefully, over the next couple of days, we can name a starter and get the season rolling.”
One of the other issues that could lead Mayo to go with Brissett is the state of an offensive line that is still looking for consistency as it adjusts to a knee injury to starting guard Cole Strange. It will keep him on the physically unable to perform list entering the season.
The lack of O-line cohesion was on display in Sunday’s exhibition loss to the Washington Commanders in which Brissett started the game, but left after sustaining a right shoulder injury after just one series. Brissett’s injury came on a play where two blockers ran into each other.
Asked about the state of his shoulder, Brissett said he was fine, calling his absence from the rest of the Washington game “precautionary.”
For the game, the offensive line was flagged eight times in the first half for false starts, holding or illegal formation. At one point, Maye’s shoe flew off because he was stepped on so hard by left guard Sidy Sow, one of the candidates to start while Strange is out.
Mayo is adamant that they will get the issues and rotation corrected before the Sept. 8 opener at Cincinnati.
“We still have some time to figure out what the best combination is,” Mayo said. “I would say those guys, pre-snap penalties aside, there were definitely times where that unit out there did a pretty good job for the quarterback and especially in the run game. Anytime you average over 5 yards a carry, it’s a good day in the run game. Now in saying that, I’m not sure what the exact combination looks like.”
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