Jacoby Brissett Named Patriots' QB1 over Drake Maye; Will Start Week 1 vs. Bengals

The New England Patriots are going with experience over potential to start the 2024 season.

The Patriots confirmed Thursday that veteran Jacoby Brissett will start at quarterback in its Week 1 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. That means rookie and No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye will begin his first NFL campaign on the bench.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network originally reported the decision to go with Brissett under center.

Maye played well enough during training camp and the preseason to extend the competition until close to the start of the regular season.

Chad Graff of The Athletic noted the coaching staff "made it clear that Jacoby Brissett was the team's starter" at the start of training camp before "their language changed and they referred to it as a competition" ahead of the final preseason game.

Still, head coach Jerod Mayo said "Jacoby is still QB1" before the final preseason game even though he was more open to it being a "competition" and praised Maye as someone who was "100 percent" ready to lead the offense against NFL competition.

Brissett suffered a shoulder injury in that preseason game against the Washington Commanders, which opened the door for Maye to play even more and go 13-of-20 for 126 yards, one touchdown and zero picks.

Still, the job ultimately went to Brissett, and he will be tasked with helping the Patriots bounce back from two straight losing seasons, which inspired an overhaul of the quarterback position this offseason.

In March, they agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal with Brissett, which meant a fourth different team in four years for the signal-caller. He played for the Indianapolis Colts in 2020, Miami Dolphins in 2021, Cleveland Browns in 2022 and Washington Commanders in 2023.

New England is the team that drafted the journeyman in the third round in 2016, but he stayed with the AFC East team for just one season during his first stint.

The Patriots also traded Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars in March and then made Maye the franchise quarterback of the future by selecting him with the No. 3 pick of the 2024 draft in April.

Maye was the 2022 ACC Player of the Year at North Carolina when he completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 4,321 yards, 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions and shined in marquee games against Notre Dame and Oregon.

That led to plenty of NFL draft hype going into the 2023 season, and he responded by completing 63.3 percent of his passes for 3,608 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

It was enough to convince the Patriots to take him so early in the draft, but he will still have to wait to see the field in a regular-season game.

As for Brissett, he didn't make a single start last season but made 11 while appearing in 16 games in 2022 for the Browns. He went 4-7 as a starter that year and completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,608 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.

He brings plenty of experience and is an ideal bridge quarterback until Maye is ready since he can keep the team afloat but likely isn't good enough to hold off the rookie all year.