The New England Patriots O-Line is gaining some negative attention. The reason? Jacoby Brissett took a sack and injured his right shoulder in the preseason game against the Commanders. While we don’t know about his recovery timeline, the Pats have another issue at hand. An urgency to choose a QB1 as the regular season approaches. However, after the debacle today, the real question is, should Drake Maye take the job?

Greg Bedard and Tom E. Curran believe that Maye should not put his life on the line and risk becoming the QB1 for the team. Maye was reported saying, “Yeah, I think I would feel ready.” But after Jacoby Brissett’s episode, the offensive team to protect the QB has appeared subpar and Tom Curran expressed a similar concern.

“The offensive line is a complete train wreck,” Tom E. Curran said on NBC Boston. “How can you put Drake Maye [out there behind that?]. Prayers to Jacoby Brissett having to go out there I mean, you know, the Bengals, Lou Anarumo [DC]. Week 2 is Seattle, Mike Macdonald with his new defense. You have the Jets in all they do. The San Francisco 49ers? With this offensive line where it is right now, Drake Maye is not getting near the field.”

A clear suggestion Curran doesn’t want Drake Maye to get “kil–d.” The offensive line consisting of Sidy Sow and Layden Robinson, who bumped into each other trying to set up a screen for the TE Jaheim Bell, speaks volumes about the internal instability of the clan. When that happened, Sow could not stop KJ Henry from getting in and sacking Jacoby Brissett. The guard later exited from the game due to an ankle injury.

But Brissett getting sacked wasn’t the only time when the O-Line failed to accomplish what it was supposed to. In all entirety, the Patriots’ O-Line was flagged 4 times for illegal formation and three of those calls went to the veteran Chukwuma Okorafor. If only the New England blues stopped there. Nick Leverett, the backup guard, was also responsible for two fumbles, forcing Maye to improvise.

The Commanders’ second team did all that damage to the Patriots within the first half of the game. But despite all the pressure, Maye completed 13 of his 20 passes for 126 yards and also threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Harris. Jerod Mayo didn’t like what he saw today from the O-Line and didn’t mince his words when addressing them during the presser.

Jerod Mayo is dealing with the O-Line that doesn’t make “adjustments”

The astonishing thing about the contest today is that the O-Line racked up 10 penalties for 157 yards in the 20-10 loss. After going 1-2 in the preseason, Jerod Mayo has assessed where the team is faltering and delivered a reality check to the players in his team.

“I think that the biggest concern for me is not the X’s and O’s of what to do; it’s the lack of discipline that they showed today,” said Jerod Mayo while accepting that he and the other coaches have to be more “diligent” when it came to pre-snap penalties. What’s more embarrassing is the fact that the Pats coaches and players had to rely on the referees for guidance on illegal formations and such.

However, even after all the intimations, the Pats were unsuccessful in controlling the blitzes coming from the Commanders’ backup squad. Mayo thinks that it will be his team’s undoing in the future. He later added in the presser, “The point of emphasis is (the refs) always give you a warning like the tackles are too far back and things like that. We had those warnings and we didn’t take heed, and they threw the flag. … Once again, the most frustrating part was, this is how they’re calling your alignment, let’s make those adjustments.”

At some point, Drake Maye’s cleat flew off when Sidy Sow stepped on it. Then, Maye threw a beautiful 48-yard pass on the run. It landed in the hands of KJ Osborn who ran it into the endzone. However, the touchdown was nullified because of an illegal formation.

Addressing the Jacoby Brissett injury, it seems like it’s nothing major. Mayo’s plan was for Brissett to play a series or two and he accomplished that. Moreover, even after getting hit, Brissett completed two passes which probably means he’s fine and will be starting on week 1. For now, the New England Patriots head coach thinks that Drake Maye is the “second-best quarterback.”

While the Patriots decide on their starting quarterback, check out Chris Gronkowski’s take on his NFL journey, and other things, check out the Dual Threat Podcast with BG12.