Patriots

“I don’t know,” Mayo said. “We talk about it every week, competing for a job. So we’ll sit down as a coaching staff and see how it goes.”

When Jacoby Brissett was announced as the Patriots’ starting quarterback last month, coach Jerod Mayo said the organization was 100 percent behind him.

With a subpar offensive line and low overall expectations for the season, the plan was for the experienced Brissett to start games, run the offense and take the hits while rookie Drake Maye watches and learns.

With Maye already in action three games into the season, Mayo said he was unsure about Brissett’s status as a starter. He was asked directly if he would consider a quarterback change.

“I don’t know,” Mayo said. “We talk about competing for a job every week. So we’ll sit down as a coaching staff and see how it goes.”

Now that we’ve gotten over the Patriots’ 24-3 loss to the Jets, here are some final thoughts on the action.

What happened to Brissett’s 100% support?

Some believe that starting Maye is the right move. According to Mayo, he played better than Brissett in the preseason. He is expected to be the quarterback of the future and will have to play at some point. Some would argue that he is missing out on valuable experience by sitting on the bench.

Others believe that the risk of Maye getting injured or losing his trust in the offensive line outweighs the benefits of starting him.

Regardless of what anyone thinks about who starts at quarterback, one thing is clear: Mayo’s message after Sunday’s game did not sound like the Patriots are truly 100 percent behind Brissett.

It seems like he gave a pretty lukewarm answer to a question about a guy who managed the game well enough to beat the Bengals in the opener, had a competitive performance against the Seahawks, and completed two-thirds of his passes against the Jets.

Brissett has never lost the ball this season, is taking a beating behind this ragtag offensive line, and still refuses to let his teammates get the better of him.

“I’m a big man, I can take it. I’m always going to get back up,” Brissett said after being sacked five times. “That’s one thing with me, I’m always going to get back up. I’ve got to find ways to make plays, man. That’s what it comes down to. It’s football, I’m supposed to get hit. I didn’t sign up for this sport not to get hit.”

Brissett’s numbers weren’t great. He averaged 122.6 yards per game and had just one touchdown pass. Only two of his throws were over 20 yards.

However, he was an immediate improvement over Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe simply because he took care of the football. These Patriots are probably one field goal away from being 2-1 instead of 1-2 against Seattle. Most importantly, the problems on the offensive line aren’t going to go away when Maye comes in.

One day it will be Maye’s team. Any player who finishes in the top five gets a chance, and Brissett is on a one-year contract.

Will his time come soon? We’ll have to wait and see.

Fumble Watch

Rhamondre Stevenson was a workhorse for the Patriots in the first two games, appearing over 20 times in each game.

Against the Jets, who stopped New England’s running game, he was limited to six touches and 23 yards.

There is a pattern emerging in Stevenson’s play that could be cause for concern. He has yet to finish a game without a fumble this season.

“I have to hold the ball,” Stevenson said when asked what it was all about. “I just have to hold it.”

Douglas gets touches

After recording zero catches and zero targets last week, DeMario Douglas bounced back with seven catches for 69 yards, a season-high.

It was a positive sign for the second-year receiver, who had expressed frustration over his lack of touches earlier in the week.

The Patriots made an increased effort to incorporate him into the game strategy and he responded by becoming the only receiver to gain more than 13 yards.

New England needs to improve significantly from its receivers and the addition of Douglas seems to be an important step in that direction.

Where is the pass rush?

Aaron Rodgers looked very, very confident as he dismantled the Patriots with short passes on Thursday night.

He was sacked twice: Deatrich Wise reached him early in the first quarter and Joshua Uche was able to break free in the fourth.

But for the most part, it seemed like Rodgers had plenty of time to stand in the pocket and make his shots. He didn’t have to use his 40-year-old legs to scramble very often.

Keion White remains the only Patriot with more than one sack (4) this season.

The Patriots lost two of their most productive rushers in Matthew Judon and Christian Barmore. The pass rush understandably didn’t look the same without them.