Photo: Getty Images
The New England Patriots have named veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett as their starter during minicamp over No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt revealed to reporters on Tuesday (June 4).
“Jacoby, again, is our starter,” Van Pelt said the Athletic's Chad Graff. “He’s playing excellent football for us in the spring. And Drake is coming on. Until that changes, we’re going to stick with what we’ve got.”
The Patriots plan to take it slow while developing Maye, 21, who threw for 8,018 yards, 63 touchdowns and 16 interceptions on 618 of 952 passing in 30 games during his collegiate career at North Carolina.
“I think of it as a marathon over a sprint. You just don’t go out and run a marathon. You have to train properly for a marathon. It’s the same with a quarterback,” Van Pelt said via ESPN's Mike Reiss. “There’s a process. We follow that process. We trust that process. You can’t just stick a guy out there and expect him to be successful without the proper training.
“We’re making moves in the right direction.”
Maye took reps as the Patriots' No. 2 quarterback on Tuesday, having previously worked behind both Brissett and Bailey Zappe during earlier spring workouts.
“Me and Jacoby and Bailey, we’re battling,” Maye said on Tuesday via ESPN. “Mixing up who goes with who each day. It’s not necessarily ‘Hey, you’re going first, you’re going second.’ Jacoby is getting first and from there we’re just playing it by ear,” Maye said. “Obviously, it matters how you do when you’re in there.”
Brissett began his career with the Patriots, making two starts during his rookie season amid Tom Brady's four-game suspension in relation to the Deflategate scandal and backup Jimmy Garoppolo's Week 2 injury. The former NC State standout was acquired by the Indianapolis Colts in a trade with the Patriots the following season after starter Andrew Luck suffered an injury and started 15 of 16 games prior to stints with the Miami Dolphins (2021), Cleveland Browns (2022) and Washington Commanders (2023).
Brissett enters his ninth NFL season with 10,574 yards, 51 touchdowns and 23 interceptions on 981 of 1,600 passing, as well as 915 yards and 15 touchdowns on 230 rushing attempts.