Jacoby Brissett probably woke up in pain Friday morning after the Patriots suffered a 24-3 loss to the Jets.
“It really didn’t come down to the plays. Frankly, they just kicked our asses,” Brissett told reporters Friday.
Brissett was sacked five times by the Jets after being sacked just four times in the Patriots’ first two games against the Seahawks and Bengals.
Even reserve Drake Maye, making his debut as a cleanup guard, was caught on a one-yard run by Jamien Sherwood and sacked two more times.
Coach Jerod Mayo, who initially declined to comment on whether Brissett would continue to start in place of Maye, seemed to be in agreement about the setbacks Brissett has endured.
“Jacoby is our quarterback until he’s not the quarterback anymore. I thought he showed a lot of toughness and grit last night. …” Mayo told reporters.
The Patriots’ offensive line, which was a major concern before the season, will have to improve regardless of the quarterback position if they want to stay in the game.
Before allowing seven sacks on Thursday Night Football, the Patriots had the third-worst offensive line rating according to Pro Football Focus, so it’s safe to assume they’ll be the worst in the league once all of Week 3’s games are complete.
Brissett was pressured on 12 of 23 dropbacks (pressure rate 52.2), a catastrophic number for the struggling unit.
Undoubtedly, the Patriots don’t want to throw the 22-year-old Maye so far back that he doesn’t have much room to maneuver and time to throw, increasing the risk of long-term injury.
New England will next face the vaunted 49ers defense on September 29th.