Patriots writer shares ominous prediction for QB Drake Maye's first start

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt suggested earlier this week that the "great strides" QB Drake Maye has made in knowing "how the protections are schemed and where the holes in those protections are" helped convince first-year head coach Jerod Mayo that the rookie quarterback was ready to start for the 1-4 Patriots in this Sunday's home game against the 4-1 Houston Texans.

Nevertheless, Patriots beat writer Chris Mason of MassLive predicted in a mailbag published on Friday that Maye will take over 4.5 sacks while facing Houston's menacing pass-rush at Gillette Stadium.

"Rookies inherently hold the ball a little too long," Mason explained, "and Houston’s pass rush is great. So, some sacks are inevitable."

Per the Team Rankings website, the Texans enter the weekend tied for seventh in the NFL with an average of 3.0 sacks accumulated per game this season. Veteran signal-caller Jacoby Brissett took 13 sacks over New England's last three contests before he was mercifully benched in favor of Maye.

Reporters and analysts have repeatedly discussed from springtime workouts through this week if having Maye play behind a bad offensive line against live defenses could negatively impact his development. Mason directly wrote in Friday's piece that Mayo "needed to play the kid to try to win some games and keep the locker room from checking out" for the remainder of the season ahead of Halloween.

"The Patriots feel their offensive line has stabilized enough and Jacoby Brissett is performing at a lousier-than-expected level," Mason noted. "His lack of mobility is making any blocking breakdown into a death knell and he’s not doing the savvy things a veteran is supposed to."

The Patriots are ranked 31st in scoring (12.4 points per game) and having the league's worst-ranked passing attack (119.4 yards per contest), per ESPN stats, which certainly didn't help Brissett's cause. Logic suggests Mayo and Co. wanted to wait until at least November to throw Maye to the figurative wolves, but talk about a locker room "mutiny" seemingly forced the coach's hand ahead of schedule.

As of late Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Maye-led Patriots as 6.5-point underdogs against the Texans.