It's swim or sink time in Foxborough.
The Drake Maye era begins in earnest Sunday in New England when the Houston Texans visit Gillette Stadium following the Patriots' fourth consecutive loss with Jacoby Brissett under center.
"I think it's a great opportunity," Maye said on Wednesday after New England officially announced Maye would start Week 6. "Something you dream of, getting your first start in the NFL. So excited to get out there with the guys, take advantage of having the full week to get prepared and try to put my best foot forward and help the team win."
A toolsy rookie, Maye improved throughout training camp and preseason, flashing a big arm and athleticism, which could come in handy behind a struggling offensive line.
During the end of preseason, head coach Jerod Mayo admitted that Maye had improved and pushed Brissett for the opening-day gig, even going so far as to say at one point that the rookie had outplayed the veteran. However, with that faulty offensive line, the Pats stuck with the 31-year-old as their Week 1 starter.
Even in the season-opening upset of Cincinnati, the Pats offense has struggled to muster any semblance of a passing attack. Brissett has thrown for fewer than 170 yards in each outing while taking 17 sacks and being pressured on a league-high 50.0 percent of dropbacks.
Mayo said he believes now is the right time to make the change after Brissett took a beating to open the season.
"At the time, we thought that Jacoby would give us the best opportunity to go out there and win games, protecting the football, really running the offense," the coach said. "With that being said, he was a warrior. As you guys know, he was taking a lot of hits and just kept getting up. For a guy like that to be voted as a captain in his situation and continue to be very supportive of Drake Maye, I tip my hat to Jacoby for having that ego-less mentality."
It's possible that Maye's athletic ability could help extend plays when the offensive line gets beat.
"Going forward, I think now Drake gives us the best chance to win now and going forward," Mayo said. "He's been getting better every single week as I said before. At the end of training camp, he actually was trending at a very high rate, and that has continued through the early part of the season.
"... Physically, look, this guy definitely gives us a chance to kinda get some of those off-schedule plays that you guys always see on TV."
Maye earned a 43.3 percent completion rate, 6.7 yards per attempt, 7 pass TDs, and 5 INTs, with a 69.0 passer rating under pressure in 2023 at UNC, per Pro Football Focus.
The Patriots hoped starting the season with Brissett would provide the offensive line time to gel and improve. Instead, it's gotten more injured and struggled to find any semblance of stability.
Into that fire goes Maye.
His first test out of the gate is tough. He faces a DeMeco Ryans defense that made Bills quarterback Josh Allen look like a greenhorn last week (completing a career-low 30 percent of his passes). The Texans have the highest QB pressure rate in the NFL in 2024 (42.0 pct) and Danielle Hunter leads the NFL with 29 QB pressures.
"I think the biggest thing is me playing on time," Maye said. "Playing in rhythm and trusting the guys around me. The game plan is not going to change. … What we do on offense is what we do on offense. I'm not trying to give too much hints toward the game plan."
New England kept its No. 3 overall pick on the sideline for the first five weeks to protect him. Now they're tossing him into the deep end with no floaties against the best pressure team in the NFL.
