
Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett throws a pass Thursday night during a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Foxborough, Mass. Brissett said Monday he still considers himself the starting quarterback despite Coach Jerod Mayo saying there is competition for the job with rookie Drake Maye. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — To veteran Jacoby Brissett, there is no quarterback competition in New England.
“I still treat myself as if I’m the starter,” Brissett said Monday after what Coach Jerod Mayo called the last official day of training camp for the Patriots.
But that’s not the message from Mayo. Brissett continues to take all of the first-team reps in practice, but rookie Drake Maye has come on strong since Tuesday’s joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles.
“We still don’t know right now,” Mayo said Monday when asked if he knew who would be the Patriots’ Week 1 starter.
“We have another preseason game, and then a week after that. When I know, I’ll let you know.”
As recently as late July, Mayo was labeling Brissett as the starting quarterback. Mayo said Monday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” that the Patriots don’t currently have a starter.
“One hundred percent, and we’re still in training camp,” said Mayo when asked if Maye could win the job. “We still have, you know, our preseason game against Washington. And once again, we don’t have a starting quarterback right now. When it’s time, we’ll announce that. But he could absolutely be QB1, so could Jacoby. So we’ve just got to see how it plays out.”
Monday was a bounce-back day for Brissett but a strong one overall for Patriots quarterbacks in the 90-minute practice before Tuesday’s off day.
Brissett was 5 of 6 with a sack in team drills and 3 of 3 with a sack in 11-on-11 drills. Maye went 8 of 11 overall in team drills and 5 of 8 in 11-on-11s.
There’s another competition between backups Joe Milton III and Bailey Zappe for a roster spot. Milton was 4 of 5 overall and 2 of 2 in 11-on-11s, while Zappe was 1 of 3 in 11-on-11s.
“I think ending training camp on the right note, it’s all about – Coach Mayo always talks about finishing and finishing and finishing, and today was an emphasis on that, obviously with it being the last day of quote-unquote training camp,” Brissett said after practice. “I think the emphasis was just finishing today, and I think we did a good job of that, making some plays and fighting through the monotony of training camp, and obviously without the fans out here, it can get a little lull, and I think we answered that bell. I think we finished off the right way.”
Brissett, who has started 48 games over his eight-year career, repeated Monday that he’s the starting competition with Maye, but it’s not on his mind while practicing.
Brissett was asked if it was even more important to finish strong Monday given the uncertain status of the Patriots’ starting job.
“Every day I’m coming out here trying to do my best,” Brissett said. “It don’t matter if it’s Day 1 or Day 39. I’m still going out there trying to do my best. I don’t really worry about the competition. I’m more so just worried about myself and being a good teammate.”
Brissett was involved in the play of the day Monday, when he hit speedy wide receiver Tyquan Thornton in stride on a deep route with the team’s top cornerback, Christian Gonzalez, in coverage.
“The crazy thing is, we’re still learning it,” Brissett said of Thornton’s speed.
Thornton ran a 4.28-second 40-yard dash coming out of Baylor before the 2022 draft. The Patriots selected him in the second round but he’s struggled to produce over his first two seasons.
“We’re still trying to figure out how that speed looks or how fast he can pick up speed. On that go ball today, it was one of those just like let it fly and see how his speed picks up. It was one I thought I threw a little too far, and he went and got it. That’s just something I can put in my memory bank,” Brissett said.
“You always get put in these certain situations, and you hope you can keep putting in that memory bank of learning guys, and I think that’s what training camp and preseason are all about is just you get to bank reps with guys in certain situations that don’t come up very often. Today was one of those chances, and he’s going against a really good DB, so I was very happy to see that.”
Brissett’s one miss in practice to veteran wide receiver K.J. Osborn. The pass hit Osborn on the fingertips, but it was thrown slightly out in front.
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