Patriots quarterbacks Drake Maye and Jacoby Brissett, right, take snaps at practice outside Gillette Stadium last week. Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald

Patriots players will be the first to know if Drake Maye or Jacoby Brissett won the team’s quarterback competition.

Coach Jerod Mayo said on WEEI radio that he wants to announce the starter to the team after roster cuts before telling the media about the decision.

In saying that, Mayo acknowledged that Maye has outplayed Brissett but that the team plans to “take in the whole body of work, going all the way back to the spring and beginning of training camp” to make its decision.

“I think there are multiple factors that kind of have to go into this decision,” Mayo said Monday on a conference call with the media. “One is the total body of work, whether we’re talking about the spring or the entirety of training camp. And now, I’d 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 the starter and get the season rolling.”

Maye is 21 of 34 for 192 yards with one touchdown in three preseason games, while Brissett is 5 of 14 for 36 yards with an interception. Maye also has seven rushing attempts for 34 yards with a touchdown.

The rookie looked excellent in Sunday’s 20-10 preseason loss to the Commanders, going 13 of 20 for 125 yards with a touchdown and rushing three times for 17 yards. The third overall pick turned a corner nearly two weeks ago in a joint practice with the Eagles on Aug. 13. Since that point, Maye has outplayed Brissett in preseason games and training camp practices.

But Mayo did caution that sometimes teams attempt to develop a rookie quarterback too quickly.

“We’ve all seen the horror stories of sometimes rookie quarterbacks just getting thrown to the wolves and they fall apart, and we didn’t want that to happen,” Mayo said on WEEI of the Patriots’ plan with Maye heading into the summer. “Now I’m not saying that would happen with Drake at all, because he is a mentally tough person, and shows great resilience and control of the ball.”

The Patriots also have their offensive line to consider as it relates to playing Maye too early. Brissett injured his right shoulder taking a sack in the first quarter of Sunday’s preseason finale. The Patriots’ offensive line was flagged 10 times, including eight penalties in the first half, in the loss to the Commanders.

Mayo said on WEEI that regardless of the offensive line situation, if Maye wins the competition, then he will start.

“I think every situation is unique, because I don’t want to fall into this narrative fallacy or anything like that, because you have seen rookie quarterbacks go out there and perform at a high level,” Mayo said. “I don’t know how the story ends with Drake’s rookie season, but all possibilities are open, and we’ll see what happens with who we name the starter here in the near future.”

IT LOOKS LIKE the Patriots will be going dumpster diving on the waiver wire in the coming days.

After his team’s preseason finale against the Washington Commanders, Coach Jerod Mayo said that New England will be “very active” on the waiver wire in the coming days. The deadline for teams to trim their rosters to 53 players is 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Mayo was asked if he was concerned about his offensive line’s spotty play in the final preseason game. The first-year head coach turned the question around and said that he and VP of player personnel Eliot Wolf will be looking to improve at every position.

“I’m not concerned about the – well, look, I’m concerned about every position,” Mayo said. “I would say Elliot and myself and the rest of the staff, our job is to always look for better players. We’ll be very active on the waiver wire, there’ll be some good football players out there on the street.”

Coming off a 4-13 season and an offseason with few big splashes in free agency, the Patriots are considered to be in need of talent up and down the roster. That much is no secret.

As a result, New England will be looking across the league to see which players fall short of 53-man rosters and are hitting the market. To do that, the Patriots would have to trim their roster to below 53 players to add anyone via the waiver wire.

Last week, Wolf said the Patriots’ scouting department is keeping a close eye on rosters across the league to see which players will be available. Currently, New England has the No. 3 spot on the waiver wire, meaning it has a good chance of landing a player it has eyes on if he’s cut.

“Our scouting department right now, all they’re doing is just grinding through the preseason film, watching players, talking to other teams, seeing who might become available,” Wolf said. “Having a third claim spot is a good advantage, and we’ll be aggressive, I think.”