Former All-Pro safety Devin McCourty weighed in on who he thought would be the Patriots’ starting quarterback to open the 2024, but admitted it won’t be an easy call.
McCourty, who was part of the local game broadcast for the first two New England preseason games, was on the desk in NBC’s Sunday Night Football studio for the final game against Washington.
Early in the third quarter of the preseason finale at Washington, he remotely joined play-by-play partners Mike Tirico and Chris Collinsworth to discuss the state of his former team. Naturally, they asked him about the quarterback situation.
Despite Drake Maye outplaying Jacoby Brissett in Sunday’s loss to the Commanders, McCourty said he still thinks the veteran should start over the first-round draft pick.
“I think it’s still Jacoby’s job,” McCourty said. “I know it’s impressive watching Drake Maye, but you have to remember it is vanilla defenses in the preseason. It hasn’t been Washington’s starters. But they have to be encouraged by what they see. Drake Maye is getting better. From where he started in the spring to where he is now, it shows that he can be the guy someday for this team.”
McCourty pointed to their own practices and the Patriots’ joint practices against Philadelphia and the risks of putting Maye in bad positions as things that worked in Brissett’s favor.
“Overall day-to-day I think they still have more confidence, going into Week 1 against Cincinnati, to put Jacoby out there to handle some things,” McCourty said. “I think what happened with Mac Jones is still fresh in people’s minds in New England. ‘If we put him out there early and it doesn’t go well with the pieces we really want around him. Will this ruin his career?’ I think they’re thinking about it. They won’t talk about it, but it has to be fresh in their mind.”
On the other hand, McCourty thought the Patriots’ defensive players might rally around Maye.
“The way Drake Maye has performed in these last two games is going to get some guys — especially if you’re on the defensive side of the ball. You aren’t in all the meetings and you don’t hear all the coaching, but you see it,” he said. “If he continues to do this in practice, there will be guys in practice who say ‘I want to see (Maye) out there. I think that adds even more to the story.”
