Does Jerod Mayo think Drake Maye is not pro-ready?

One of the biggest knocks on Drake Maye ahead of this year’s NFL Draft was that he may not be ready to be a starter in the NFL.

High-profile draft analysts, like ESPN’s quarterback guru Dan Orlovsky, believed that teams should be prepared to sit him if he was selected with a high pick.

“Drake Maye has to be on the Jordan Love-type of timeline. Drake Maye has to sit,” Orlovsky told Rich Eisen in March.

Jordan Love was famously drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 2020 while the team still had Aaron Rodgers on the roster. Love didn’t start until this past NFL season after Rodgers was traded to the Jets.

A lot of time has passed between the draft and now, when training camp is beginning, and the perception of Maye has changed a lot, too. Many people—including many Patriots fans—don’t want to wait two or three years to see Maye start; they want to see him now. Is Jerod Mayo one of those people?

Mayo slipped in a possible throw-away line in a press conference Tuesday while talking up veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett, saying he’s “the most pro-ready guy we have.”

Adam Jones took issue with those comments on Tuesday’s edition of Jones & Mego with Arcand on WEEI. Listen to the entire segment above.

“Did not love that last line from Jerod Mayo,” Jones said. “Does that mean that Drake Maye is not pro-ready?”

Jones did not disagree with Mayo praising Brissett or even naming him the presumptive starter coming into training camp, but the added line stuck with him.

“The rest of the comment I’m okay with. He’s our starting quarterback right now, it’s all about competition, etcetera, etcetera. Pro ready? I hadn’t heard that one yet,” Jones said.

On the other hand, Meghan Ottolini wasn’t bothered by the comment.

“I took that as, here’s a nice thing to say about Jacoby Brissett,” Mego said, “when Drake Maye has more of the younger and natural skill set that you’ll be looking for in the future of the franchise at quarterback.”

Mego agreed with Mayo that Brissett is the more pro-ready quarterback and will start for the Patriots in Week 1.

“He’s more pro-ready,” Mego said.

“If you’re asking me today at the beginning of training camp, I’d tell you Jacoby Brisett is the starter because of his pro experience.”

Christian Arcand compared this quarterback controversy with another recent one between Cam Newton and Mac Jones.

“Newton was obviously more pro-ready, he had been in the league, he was an MVP, he was the first overall pick and all those things,” Arcand said, “and if you remember Bill [Belichick] didn’t make the call for Mac to be the starter until, like, the very end of camp.”

Adam Jones disagreed with this, arguing that Jones was more pro-ready.

“Mac was pro-ready. It’s about the only thing he had going for him,” Jones said.

“Guys come into the league pro-ready, they do, and I just wonder if [Mayo]’s saying Drake’s not.”