The Patriots received massive praise for starting Jacoby Brissett and benching their star rookie QB, Drake Maye, at the beginning of the season. Despite Maye’s impressive outings during preseason games, the team stuck with Brissett for the first five games, relying on his experience.
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However, with just one win in five games, head coach Jerod Mayo has now decided to name the UNC alum as the starting quarterback. While many doubt Maye’s readiness to take on the role and fear he could struggle like Brissett, NFL legend Troy Aikman believes otherwise.
During the recent episode of Pardon My Take, Aikman points out how two factors could make this the ideal time for New England to bring in Maye as the starting QB:
” If I were the coach, I would simply ask the question- one can we protect him and can we put him in an environment where we at least give him a chance where he has an opportunity to have success? And if the answer to those questions is a yes, then I say get him out there and let him get some reps.”
Till now, Maye has one appearance for the Patriots. It was during the last quarter of the Week 3 defeat against the Jets, where the QB completed 4 out of 8 passes, covering 22 passing yards.
His next clash will be against the Texans, where Maye will get the opportunity to set things right in his tone from the get-go. Amidst the young QB bearing the burden of trying to overcome four consecutive losses, coach Mayo had his perspective to share on the changed QB-position holder:
“We have to look at every single unit and every single player and figure out how we use this roster to go out there and win games.”
While the change seems to be progress-intended, Aikman did not shy away from pointing out the flow in such scenarios. He addressed the constant issues that new QBs face in their initial seasons, with accountability lingering on the organization more than the QB.
Aikman blames the organizational issues for rookie struggles
During the same podcast segment, the Hall of Famer highlighted that, more often than not, it’s the organization’s shortcomings and poor offensive play-calling that let quarterbacks down.
Drawing from his own experience, Aikman emphasized that quarterbacks rarely fail the franchise. Instead, it’s the team’s personal decisions that fail the QBs. He pointed out that most of these shot-callers are talented but often placed in bad situations that hinder their success.
” I think that the organizations and offensive coaches and offensive coordinators have failed quarterbacks more than QBs have failed the organizations.”
The 3-time Super Bowl winner can be deemed right as we have seen Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, and Baker Mayfield, all first-round QBs flourish when put in the right situations. However, looking at the previous circumstances, matters don’t look the best for Drake Maye.
He’s stepping into a poor situation as the Pats have one of the worst offensive lines in the league. Brissett has already endured 17 sacks this season. New England’s desperation could end up hurting Maye and his confidence, turning against the Patriots more than in their favor.
