Friday Patriots Notebook 5/17: News and Notes
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Some Patriots news and notes for this morning:
The key question in the coming months is going to be when rookie quarterback Drake Maye will be ready to start, with the rookie likely facing a long road before he sees any NFL regular season action.
What happens during the preseason games will be interesting from the standpoint of how the club approaches it. If Jacoby Brissett is moving along and having a solid camp, then it makes sense for him to see action with the first team during the preseason in preparation for the regular season. The downside there is that it puts Maye out there with potentially second-team linemen and possibly not all their top receivers.
That’s a double-edged sword, since – in that scenario – a strong performance might come against second-team players, while a bad performance might happen due to possibly having second-team guys and not his top weapons around him.
Odds are pretty good that it will probably be a rotational situation, where the team might only put Brissett out there for one game or maybe even just a couple of series, while giving the rest of the reps to Maye, allowing the rookie to get the most action against other NFL first-team players to see how he responds.
Whether or not that would influence things enough for him to seize the role is the next question. But NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran said on Thursday during an appearance on Jones & Mego with Arcand that Maye is going to have to win this battle “by knockout” in order to start the season.
“I think it has to … and I love this conversation because it is so undefined,” explained Curran. “I truly believe, and [Adam] Jones and I have already gone around about this and will continue to for the next couple of months, but he has to win by knockout coming out of camp, and he’s got no shot to do that. I don’t think he’ll even win, but I think he also has to win by knockout to be given the opportunity to start coming out of camp.”
“So if he’s not starting coming out of camp, you’re going to give the first month to Brissett. Unless there’s an injury, or he’s totally inept. What does it have to look like behind the scenes, though, Meg [Meghan Ottolini]? It has to be, in my opinion, unanimously, throughout the organization, a sense that we would be better right now, or we have the potential to be better on the field, with Drake playing than we do with Jacoby Brissett.”
In the meantime, Brissett will be the guy who will be in charge of being the person to hopefully help both Maye and fellow rookie Joe Milton. Brissett spoke to reporters on Thursday about being a player who will be helping young players at the next level, and it’s a role he said he’s happy to embrace.
“I mean, I think when I was here the first time, you realize everybody’s your mentor that’s older than you in this league or have more experience in, and I hope I’m that for more than just Drake in being a helping person for players on this team,” said Brissett. “When people ask that to other guys, I don’t understand the bad part. I’m a teammate first, and I hope I can be a good teammate to not only him, but to everybody on his team.”
Staying true to their plans this offseason, the Patriots took another step on Thursday at ensuring they kept one of their key core players around for a little longer.
ESPN’s Field Yates reported that the club extended veteran center David Andrews, with Andrews receiving an additional year on his contract that will keep him in the fold through 2025.
Yates reports that under the new terms of his contract, Andrews will earn a base amount of $12 million, with a maximum value of $13 million.
Brissett spoke about Andrews Thursday, with the veteran being among the few players still remaining from the quarterback’s first stint as a rookie back in 2016. He said that Andrews sets an example for everyone to follow, which is what he believes makes him such a special player.
“When I was here, he was a second-year player, and now he’s, I think, a staple in the Patriot way,” said Brissett. “I think he’s somebody that when I think about the culture, I think he is that. Somebody that’s a worker and a guy that’s fought through his career to get to where he is now and I think a lot of players on our team can look up to him, not just guys on the O’Line.”
“It’s like, shoot, Drake can look up to him as somebody that has built a career in one place, but behind a lot of hard work and obviously trials and tribulations in his career and things of that nature. I’m glad he’s here and he’s our center because I understand and I know what he brings to this team.”
The Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed had a nice piece on Tyquan Thornton, with the third-year wideout talking about the fact he’s bulked up this offseason. Thornton said the goal is to not be “too heavy up top,” while his target weight goal is 190 pounds. The hope is being able to handle some of the hits he’s taken that have sidelined him, having suffered a broken collarbone his rookie year and a shoulder injury last preseason. “I feel like all of my injuries came from me hitting the ground,” said Thornton, noting that the added weight will hopefully be helpful, “so, I can bounce back up when I do hit the ground.” … Former Steelers linebacker and New England Patriot James Harrison said during a recent appearance with Cameron Heyward’s podcast that he believes the Patriots were cheating during the 2004 AFC Championship game. “Hell yeah, they was cheating,” said Harrison. “They only missed one blitz, man, where previously, when we beat New England and Philly, they couldn’t see the broad side of a barn.” Harrison was referring to his team ending New England’s 21-game win streak earlier that year, where they beat the Patriots 34-20. The Patriots dominated the rematch 41-27, winning the AFC Championship game while going on to also win the Super Bowl. Harrison played with Pittsburgh from 2004-2012, before a brief one-season stint in Cincinnati, with Harrison returning to Pittsburgh from 2014-2017. He joined New England late in that 2017 season, but failed to get a ring after being on the losing side of the Patriots’ Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia. … Brissett is apparently still a little bitter about his loss to New England back in 2022, when Bailey Zappe started the game and led them to a 38-15 blowout win over Brissett and the Browns. “They kicked the [expletive] out of me that day,” said Brissett, smiling. “Yeah. That was a bad day for me. It was a good day for Zapp [Bailey Zappe], though. He’s rubbed that in a lot since I’ve been here. So, yeah, it was a bad day.” … Brissett said that working with Zappe has been fun, which has made the QB room a great place to work. “It’s been a lot of fun, man,” said Brissett. “Not only does he rub that game in a lot, it’s just the competitions that we have every day. And that’s the thing, though, the room is like, everybody’s talking, me, Drake and Joe. You got a guy that is starting an NFL in one game. He’s not a slouch. And I think the good thing about our room is, honestly, everybody wants to be the guy, and everybody’s competing to be the guy, and that’s what you want.”
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