In AVP we trust?
When it comes to the quarterbacks, and the offense, that’s what it boils down to for the 2024 season – trusting that Alex Van Pelt, a.k.a. the “head coach of the offense,” knows what he’s doing and will make the right call.
Listening to Van Pelt talk during the week, ahead of Sunday night’s preseason finale against the Washington Commanders, he seemed pretty set on his starting quarterback for Week 1 of the regular season.
No matter how much coach Jerod Mayo called it a “competition”, it was going to be Jacoby Brissett, not Drake Maye, facing the Bengals in Cincinnati. End of quarterback controversy.
If only the decision was that simple. In truth, it just gets more complicated by the minute.
Brissett might be the smart, safe choice given his experience, his knowledge of the offense and his ability to read defenses. He might have more “tools” as Van Pelt put it, to handle what lies ahead.
But Maye, whose arm talent and athleticism have been on full display the past two weeks, has outplayed the veteran of late, especially in the preseason games. On Sunday night against the Commanders, Brissett only played one series thanks to getting his throwing shoulder rammed in during a sack.
While it appears the Patriots dodged a bullet, and Brissett will be fine, especially with two weeks to mend before the first game, what if it happens again?
What if Brissett – Plan A – gets smoked Week 1 or Week 2, thanks to the offensive line being so embarrassingly bad? What if Brissett physically can’t go thanks to getting pounded one time too many behind a line that can’t protect? Then what?
Is Maye automatically Plan B, given he’s the “second-best quarterback” on the roster as Mayo put it during his post-game press conference?
Maybe, maybe not.
Asked point blank if Maye would replace Brissett if the veteran couldn’t play, Mayo didn’t readily have an answer.
That’s because the decision won’t necessarily come down to him. He’ll have a say, but he’ll likely defer to Van Pelt, at least for starters.
Thanks to Robert Kraft not hiring an offensive guru to be his head coach, Mayo, whose forte is defense, doesn’t yet have the expertise to make that decision alone.
Mayo will tell you up front he’s still learning Van Pelt’s offense, and is studying all the nuances with the system. And, he’s also learning on the fly how to best handle young quarterbacks.
While he has his opinions, he’ll lean on the experts until he’s more comfortable making decisions on that side of the ball.
And that’s fine. Given the circumstances, it’s wise for Mayo to rely on Van Pelt, or whoever else, be it offensive assistant and former head coach Ben McAdoo, or executive vice president of personnel Eliot Wolf.
Throw Robert and Jonathan Kraft into that mix, too.
All of this is a backdrop for the difficult quarterback questions that lie ahead.
Is Brissett still a lock to start Week 1, no matter how good Maye has looked?
And if so, who comes in to replace Brissett if he gets hurt again?
Do they go with Maye, who put a charge into the offense even with the offensive line sabotaging his every move? What about Bailey Zappe, do they keep him around for that reason?
Might rookie Joe Milton III, who stands behind Curtain No. 3, be another possibility as the emergency starter? Or, is there another quarterback to be named later – designated punching dummy – they can acquire to stand in there and take all the hits?
For his part, Maye said he’d be ready to go Week 1 if Brissett wasn’t able, not that it should come as a surprise.
“I think I would feel ready,” Maye told reporters in Washington after leading the Patriots to their only touchdown in a 20-10 loss. “I think I’m ready for whatever this football team asks of me. Ready to get out there and try to help us beat the Bengals Week 1.”
Which brings us back to AVP.
There are going to be talk show radio hosts – not all but some – who will plead for the Patriots to start Maye Week 1, and if not, get in there immediately if Brissett can’t survive playing in front of that line. There will be an onslaught of fans, who’ll want the same, especially if the team starts out 0-5.
They’ll demand seeing the 2024 third overall pick.
So what will go into the decision?
Will it continue to be making the safe choice, and doing what’s best for the rookie quarterback’s development in the long run? Will ticket sales factor in at any point, not to mention pleasing an owner who wants to be relevant again?
Maybe it comes down to this: Can they even fix the offensive line enough in the next two weeks to put anyone under center without instant fear of losing that quarterback?
Going against a tough defense is one thing. Not having protection is another.
“The hardest position in sports to play is quarterback, especially for a rookie coming in and not seeing all the defenses that they’re going to see in the NFL,” Van Pelt said Thursday. “It’s a hard transition, and it takes a little bit of time. We’re going to be as patient as we can with that process.”
The process sped up Sunday night with Brissett’s injury. That opened up a can of worms the Patriots would rather not deal with.
Mostly, it put Van Pelt & Co. under an even hotter microscope.
