Monday Patriots Notebook 6/3: News and Notes
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Some news and notes on this Monday:
One of the most interesting aspects of this season is going to be how well Jacoby Brissett handles himself on the field, with the veteran expected to end up as the Patriots starting quarterback by the time things kick off in September.
Right now, the talk hasn’t necessarily centered on how well Brissett will perform in the coming months, but instead has focused on when he’ll be replaced. For a player who finds himself in the spotlight to mentor the club’s young QB of the future, it’s certainly a less than ideal situation.
There’s no question that Brissett likely knew coming in that he wasn’t in New England’s long-term plans. However, it doesn’t change the fact it’s a little strange that he’s already been written off with the idea that it’s just a matter of time before Drake Maye replaces him in the line-up.
Brissett was asked last week about the delicate balance when it comes to being a mentor, while still trying to prepare himself to compete in the coming months for the starting job.
“All of us are competing against each other,” said Brissett, adding that there’s competition against all the QBs in the room, including Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton. “But if you ask anybody that I’ve ever played with, I’m that with everybody. I’m a teammate. The competition shouldn’t take who I am as a man away from anything that I do on the field.”
“I want to see us all succeed. Obviously, the best player is going to play. If that’s me, I hope it is. If not, I got to do my job to help others and find a way to serve this team.”
For Brissett, the bar is certainly low heading into this season. Last year, turnovers ended up being the Achille’s Heel for the Patriots’ offense, with interceptions by Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe playing a big role in several losses, which squandered strong outings by New England’s defense.
That’s been a strength of Brissett, who has at least been careful with the football throughout his career. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe wrote in his Sunday column two weeks ago that Brissett has thrown an interception on just 1.4 percent of his career pass attempts, which is tied with Aaron Rodgers for the lowest interception percentage of any quarterback since 1990. He’s thrown just 23 interceptions in 1,600 pass attempts, while Rodgers has 105 interceptions in 7,661 attempts.
While Brissett has experience in this offense, it doesn’t change the fact that there’s still a process involved in terms of building chemistry with his new teammates. He admitted last week that he’s still growing with this group, but so far, he’s happy with the progress they’ve made.
“I feel like I’m getting better. Obviously, getting comfortable with the guys,” said Brissett. “Obviously, I’m comfortable with this offense. I’ve been in it before. But obviously, getting refamiliar with it and with the guys. And obviously, our defense does a good job of giving us so many different looks. So every day, it’s a game day. I’m excited every time I come out on this field to go out there and get better, make mistakes and correct them, and try to put my best foot forward.”
What might potentially complicate things would be for Brissett to go out there and play well, possibly stringing together some wins at some point midseason and making it difficult for the team to potentially make the change to Maye. Brissett is a guy who is well-liked in the locker room, so it would be tough to imagine the club sitting him if things are going well.
Should that end up being the case, it would be a good problem to have. Eliot Wolf talked about what they’ve continued to call a “collaborative process” that will be involved when that time eventually comes during an interview with Kay Adams.
“I think those will be some important conversations for us to have,” said Wolf. “Right now, it’s Jacoby Brissett. He’s taken the first reps, and we’re excited about what he’s shown not only off the field but also on the field with his throwing ability. And then Drake Maye, let’s be honest, we’ve had him for three weeks now. There’s a long way to go for all of our rookies and all of our players as we adapt to this new scheme that coach [Alex] Van Pelt is implementing offensively.”
“And so we’ll have those conversations as they arise. I’m sure it’s going to be a collaborative approach as it’s been so far with, with really all the big decisions that we’ve made, and, you know, they’re all four of the quarterbacks we have on the roster right now are working hard and ready to go.”
One other bit that stood out last week was a comment that Brissett made about Maye, which seems to be something that’s been echoed by the coaching staff.
Brissett pointed out that the rookie has done a good job of taking some of the advice and guidance he’s been given and running with it, with Maye also doing a good job of correcting his mistakes coming off the workload from a previous session. Brissett added that the tough part has been the volume of plays Maye’s had to absorb, but he’s done a great job when he’s been out on the practice field.
“Yeah, from day one, it was calling plays. They didn’t call this many plays in college and going out there in that process,” said Brissett. “That’s what I was telling him, every time you step out on this field, you got to make sure to get better at something. And I think he’s accepted that.”
“And obviously, he wants to go out there and be perfect, which we know that’s not possible for any of us right now. But he’s going out there and making corrections from his mistakes the day before and constantly adding more things to who he’s going to become as a player. So I’m excited for him. I see the work that he’s putting in. He’s doing a good job.”
Another key trait Maye has also shown so far is that he remains focused even in between reps. He’s been laser-focused on what Brissett does while he’s out there, studying each rep closely as the two work with the offense. Brissett said that’s how things are supposed to be, as it’s important for each of them to both feed off each other and support each other during this process.
“I’m not thinking about him watching me at all,” said Brissett. “But he has to watch me if I’m going. I’m watching him when he goes. And I think our room is a bunch of guys that has a lot to prove, I think to say. And it’s not just him pulling me aside. Zapp pulls me his aside, and Joe. And I think that’s the good thing about this room is we’re all obviously competing against each other, but we’re all trying to learn from each other and get each other better.”
It sounds like the potential changes being discussed to the offseason program ended up being news to the players this week. According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, the discussions by the NFLPA and the league about modifying the offseason schedule wasn’t something that was discussed with the players prior to when it was leaked and it sounds like the players aren’t necessarily on board. The idea would be to eliminate the mandatory sessions in the spring, with the plan instead to start those activities later in June with a ramp up into training camp in July. That’s something that players don’t seem to be keen on. “I just don’t know how or what we would be doing for two months in training camp,” Jabrill Peppers said via the Globe. “I kind of like the offseason program. Get a little time off, come back, get your feet under you, get a little more time off before you’ve got to lock in for the year.” … One key question is certainly going to be whether or not the additional time off ahead of the mandatory practices might be a detriment, which is something that Jerod Mayo expressed some concern with last week. “Honestly, in these stages, it’s just a proposal, and this is exactly what they want to happen,” said Mayo. “That’s having this conversation right here. One thing I will say, though, and I truly believe it, the athletes, no matter what sport you’re talking about, they have to take accountability for their career. And anytime you push that back like that, you’re going to start to lose some of those guys that don’t have the discipline early on in their careers to really stay in shape. So if you think you’re going to come there later and everyone’s going to be in shape, I just don’t foresee that, but I don’t have a fortune [teller].” … Heading into the season, there is one change that has been decided, which involves the new kickoff rule as the NFL tries to keep the play in the game, but by instead taking a page out of what other leagues have done. The new process will still see the ball kicked from the team’s 35-yard line. However, the other 10 players on the kicking team will now have to align horizontally on the opponent’s 40-yard line. They won’t be permitted to start downfield until the ball either hits the ground or reaches a player in the “landing zone.” That now sets up some intriguing situations, which also is going to cause kickers to possibly try to kick the ball high instead of through the end zone, or focus on placement. It’s going to be interesting to see the effect it might potentially have for embattled kicker Chad Ryland, or newcomer Joey Slye. The Patriots already saw the effect it had with former kicker Stephen Gostkowksi, who saw his field goal accuracy suffer when he started focusing on ball placement on kickoffs. And Gostkowski had been pretty consistent until all of that started. Ryland’s accuracy has been the talk of the offseason, and he doesn’t need something else to complicate his process of hopefully bouncing back from a tough rookie campaign. … According to the Boston Herald, Ryland reportedly closed out Wednesday’s practice hitting 4-of-5. The Patriots are going to need a better peformance overall in 2024 after a tough 2023 campaign, setting up a key position battle heading into training camp.
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