Bill Belichick has no idea what the Patriots' plan is for Drake Maye
FOXBORO -- Jerod Mayo and the Patriots have a plan in place for rookie quarterback Drake Maye, which at the moment has the 22-year-old watching from the sideline as Jacoby Brissett and the New England offense struggle to do much of anything each week. Many fans in New England are questioning that plan, and is sounds like former head coach Bill Belichick is as well.
Mayo reiterated Monday that Brissett is "100 percent" the team's starting quarterback, despite the Patriots falling to 1-3 on the season with a 30-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. The head coach was asked about the plan and how the team wants to develop Maye, but Mayo said that wasn't anyone's business.
So nobody outside of Patriot Place really knows what the team's plan is for Maye. Neither does the former guy in charge.
"I'll be honest with you, I have no idea what the plan is," Belichick said during his Monday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN. "So I don't know, I can't comment on that. If Mayo says he's got a plan, I guess he's got one.
"We'll have to see what it is," added Belichick. "I have no idea what it is."
This is one of the first times that Belichick has gone in-depth about his former team since becoming a full-fledged media member. He was extremely critical about the "number of issues" plaguing the Patriots through the first month of the season.
"One is they can't move the ball and they can't score," Belichick said of New England's offense. The Patriots are averaging 13 points per game through the first four weeks, which ranks 31st in the NFL.
He also highlighted New England's pass-rush issues on defense during Sunday's game, which let 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy have all the time he needed to pick apart the secondary. Purdy was sacked just once and threw for 288 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's win.
Belichick did, however, give the Patriots some props for their special teams play on Sunday. Most notably, he praised kicker Joey Slye, who booted a 63-yard field goal ahead of halftime to set a new New England record.
"Joey Slye was a great addition and they've got a good kicker. That's a big upgrade from where we were last year," said Belichick.
Belichick threw some shade at himself in the process of praising Slye, since he was the one who traded up to draft Chad Ryland in the 2023 NFL Draft. As a rookie, Ryland connected on only 16 of his 25 field goals for the Patriots, costing the team some wins in Belichick's final season as head coach. He was cut ahead of the season by Mayo and company in favor of Slye.
Of course Ryland's misses helped the Patriots land the No. 3 overall pick, which they used to draft Maye. But right now, no one knows when we'll see the rookie -- if at all -- this season.
