Drake Maye will start for the Patriots in Week 6 vs. Texans
FOXBORO -- The future is now in New England, as Drake Maye will reportedly start the Patriots' Week 6 showdown with the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium.
The team confirmed the news Wednesday, which was first reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport on Tuesday.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo made several hints at a quarterback change on Monday after the Patriots fell to 1-4 on the season following a 15-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 5. The New England offense averaged just 12.4 points per game -- ranking 31st in the NFL -- with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback for the first five games.
Brissett was done no favors behind five different New England offensive lines and was sacked 17 times in his five games at quarterback. But he also didn't do much to help the team, completing just 58.5 percent of his passes and throwing only two touchdowns.
The Patriots are 31st in the NFL at just 250.8 yards of total offense, and their 119.4 passing yards per game is dead last in the league.
The team is hoping that Maye, whom they drafted third overall out of North Carolina last April, will change all of that. The rookie played well throughout training camp and the preseason, but the team turned to the veteran Brissett to start the year to give Maye a little more time to learn from afar.
But the Patriots are in desperate need of a jolt on offense, and could potentially get that from Maye. He displayed a big arm and the athleticism to make plays when the pocket collapses in college, so now we'll see if that followed him to the NFL.
Maye made a brief relief appearance at the end of New England's Week 3 loss to the New York Jets. He took the field for the team's final series and guided the Patriots to the red zone, completing four of his eight passes for 22 yards. He also picked up 12 yards on a pair of rushes. But he was sacked twice, including on the team's final play from the New York 7-yard line.
He won't have an easy matchup in his first career start, with the Houston pass defense allowing just 154 yards per game to rank third in the NFL. The Texans are averaging three sacks a game so far this season, so Maye will have to keep his head on a swivel on Sunday.
But this is a massive move for the Patriots franchise, as they are now turning to their quarterback of the future to lead the way for the rest of the 2024 season.
Tune in to Patriots-Texans on WBZ-TV -- your television home of the New England Patriots! Pregame coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay (which you can also stream on CBSBoston.com), kickoff is set for 1 p.m., and after the game stick around for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!
