Drake Maye on replacing Jacoby Brissett as Patriots QB: ‘You hate it for him’

"Jacoby, he’s the ideal teammate. Ideal guy to be in the room with as a quarterback."

FOXBOROUGH — Jerod Mayo stressed on Wednesday morning that the decision to start Drake Maye in Week 6 gives the Patriots the “best chance to win now and going forward.”

But even if New England believes that the 22-year-old QB raises the ceiling of a Patriots offense averaging a league-worst 119.4 passing yards per contest, Mayo stressed that veteran QB Jacoby Brissett still holds plenty of value as a leader on this roster.

“Jacoby’s a warrior,” Mayo said. “And he took the news very well, like a professional, like you would expect from a guy like that … His leadership was not just what he did on the field, but also off the field, and my expectation that he agreed was that he would continue to be a leader on our football team.”

Amid the excitement that comes with making his first NFL start on Sunday against the Texans, Maye did voice his support for Brissett and empathized with a veteran who will now be placed on the sideline moving forward.

“Jacoby, he’s the ideal teammate. Ideal guy to be in the room with as a quarterback,” Maye said Wednesday. “I think the biggest thing is you hate it for him. I think Jacoby fought his butt off, got up every time he’s getting hit. Not only that he just kept that mindset of ‘let’s get to the next play. We got this drive coming.’

“Seeing him on the sideline and just the positive vibes he kind of brought to this team and still will bring to this team. He’s a great mentor, a great friend, and I’ll just try to do everything I can to help him and I’m sure he’ll do the same.”

Brissett struggled as New England’s ongoing four-game losing skid carried on — prompting Mayo to make the switch at the QB position. The 31-year-old Brissett threw just two touchdowns in five starts this season.

After getting knocked for a pair of turnovers in New England’s Week 4 loss to the 49ers, Brissett completed a season-low 52.9 percent of his passes in Sunday’s 15-10 loss to a struggling Dolphins team.

Still, Brissett’s five-game run as New England’s starting QB did give Maye additional time to develop during practices. It remains to be seen how Maye will handle a dynamic Houston defense on Sunday, especially with a porous offensive line in front of him.

But New England is banking on the hope that Brissett’s reps gave Maye the window he needed to prep himself for a featured role moving forward.

“Now we’re in Week 6 — I had five games of sitting on the sideline, hearing the play-calls, preparing for the game. … I feel like we’ve balanced a lot of different things throughout the week on how to prepare,” Maye said. “I’m just trying to tag along from Jacoby — a veteran in this league who does a great job.

“I’ve learned so much from him and seeing how he goes about it in practice. So that’s probably been the best thing is watching Jacoby and watching how he handles the whole nine yards.”

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.