Jacoby Brissett one of 6 New England Patriots team captains, Jerod Mayo sheds light on Drake Maye's role
FOXBORO – New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett was named one of the team's six captains on Monday, while head coach Jerod Mayo shed some light on how the team plans to continue developing rookie Drake Maye as the season gets underway.
Who are the Patriots' team captains?
Brissett, David Andrews, Jabrill Peppers, Ja'Whaun Bentley, Joe Cardona and Deatrich Wise were announced as team captains.
Mayo said it was important to him that the captains will wear the "C" on their jersey this season, a change from past seasons.
"Look, they embody everything that we preach about each and every day, not only on the football field, but also off the football field. I'm very excited to have these guys, and I know they're excited as well to lead this football team," Mayo said, adding that he learned how much of an honor it is to be a captain during his own playing career. "It's a badge of honor, and I think when guys do the right thing, they should be recognized for those things. It's something as small as having the captain's patch, I think it's important for those guys."
Developing Drake Maye
Mayo was also asked about the ongoing quarterback debate, and how the team will prepare Maye to eventually take over.
"For me, we talk about competition in training camp, but quite frankly, it's competition each and every week," Mayo said. "We'll see how it goes. But once again, I don't want Jacoby to feel like someone's nipping at his heels. He'll get the majority of the reps while at the same time continuing to develop Drake in other ways. Now, a lot of you guys, I guess the next question would be, 'How do you do that?' He will still participate in some of the team drills for the upcoming team. But I also think the show team reps are very important. They've always been important. Even when I was a rookie – I also was a top-10 pick, but even as a rookie, I was on those show teams. I think that's another place where you can develop, as well as the other tools that we've talked about here over the summer."
Jacoby Brissett mentoring Drake Maye
Mayo said Brissett's leadership as a mentor for Maye was one of the reasons he was chosen as a captain.
The first-year head coach was asked if he was comfortable with how he handled the quarterback competition during the offseason.
"I am; I am, 100%. No regrets in that order. I will say, I think I was explicit about it in speaking to you guys how I thought about the process," Mayo said. "There was a lot of push: 'You've got to name a quarterback; you've got to name a quarterback.' But I did think it was important to talk to the team about the decision. I thought it was important to talk to those two quarterbacks individually and then both combined. Before I came out here and told you guys, I just thought that was the right thing to do for the New England Patriots."
Drake Maye serving as No. 2 quarterback
Mayo confirmed that if Brissett were to go down with an injury, the rookie would be ready to take over.
Given Mayo's remarks last week saying that Maye had outplayed Brissett in the preseason, the coach was asked how he rectifies that to fans and players.
"I don't think I have to rectify that with the guys in the locker room, per se. I would say it goes back to the full body of work," Mayo said. "I would say at the end of training camp, I think anyone could see that Drake was playing at a very high level. Now, in saying that, we had to take everything into consideration, including the spring and the beginning part of training camp. So hopefully that kind of clears it up for you."
