NFL preseason Week 3 takeaways: How long can Patriots resist starting Drake Maye at QB?

The preseason is over and most of the questions have been answered or close, though some key contract holdouts are still lingering over everything.

Here are the top 10 takeaways from the final week of the preseason, including a complicated quarterback situation in New England:

New England Patriots

It’s pretty hard to argue that Jacoby Brissett deserves to start over Drake Maye.

Maye, the third overall pick of the NFL Draft, is clearly the more talented option. And the production in the preseason really wasn’t close. Brissett struggled badly over the preseason while Maye looked pretty good:

Maye: 21 of 32, 192 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 86.9 passer rating

Brissett: 5 for 14, 36 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 14.6 passer rating

On top of it all, Brissett suffered a right shoulder injury Sunday, though coach Jerod Mayo said Brissett could have continued to play if he had to. New England seems committed to Brissett starting.

“He’s our second-best quarterback on our roster right now,” Mayo said of Maye after Sunday night’s game, via NBC Sports Boston.

Anyone can see that’s not true, but the Patriots are also likely wary of starting Maye in a bad offensive environment that includes a subpar offensive line. But the playmaking from Maye is evident, and it showed through again in the preseason finale.

Some preseason struggles in limited playing time shouldn’t be totally held against Brissett, a solid veteran who did a good job starting most of the season for the 2022 Cleveland Browns. He’s not getting much help with this New England team. But it’s hard to believe for anyone paying attention that Maye really is the second-best quarterback on the roster, even if it appears that Brissett will be officially named the starter this week. The bigger question might be how long the Patriots can keep Maye on the bench if Brissett’s regular season looks like his preseason.

It’s really hard to throw five interceptions in a preseason game. In fairness, it’s also hard in any NFL game to throw for 323 yards…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-08-26 13:48:03

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