New England Patriots starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett suffered a shoulder injury in the first quarter of Sunday’s 20-10 preseason loss to the Washington Commanders, and coach Jerod Mayo said the veteran could have continued if the plan was to play him longer.
“I talked to him, but we’ll see.” [Monday]”You always feel a little more pain the next day,” Mayo said, “but he said he was fine.”
Brissett was upset after being sacked by Washington’s KJ Henry on the sixth offensive play. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Henry entered unscathed on a blocking error and landed his full force on Brissett’s right shoulder. When Brissett got up, he put his left hand on his chest to grab the front of the shoulder.
He stayed in the game, running a 6-yard touchdown pass on the next play, then delivering a precise deep throw to receiver KJ Osborne, which was dropped.
Priest was then taken out of the game, which May said was pre-planned so that rookie Drake May could play through the end of the second quarter.
“He could have played on,” Mayo said of Brest, who spent the rest of the match on the sidelines.
In Brissett’s place, May finished the game with 13 of 20 attempts for 126 yards and one score, which came on his first attempt. May also scored a 17-yard run, which served as the game-winning touchdown for the team’s only score.
If Brissett’s injury turns out to be more serious, Mayo and his coaching staff will evaluate whether they are comfortable handing things over to Maye, the No. 3 pick in the draft. Mayo did not commit to that after Sunday’s game, saying he needed to review film.
“I would sit here and say 100 percent he’s the second best midfielder we have right now,” Mayo said.
The perimeter offense, especially on the offensive line, could complicate that possibility further. The Patriots’ main offensive line (minus quarterback David Andrews) was called for eight penalties Sunday, and there was one bad shotgun snap, another failed exchange between the quarterback and the quarterback, and a blocking error in the play in which Brissett was ejected. Four of the eight penalties were for misalignment of the ball — three on left linebacker Chukwuma Okorafor and one on right linebacker Mike Onwenu.
In addition to Priest and May, the Patriots have rookie Joe Milton III and veteran Billy Zabe on their quarterback depth list ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to trim the roster to 53 players.
Since the start of training camp, May has consistently insisted that Priest is the starter, with May having a chance to win the job if he “shows great performances.”
Asked if he would feel ready if asked to play in the season opener, May said: “Yeah, I think I would feel ready. I think I’m ready for whatever this football team asks of me and I’m ready to go out there and try to help the Bengals win in Week 1.”
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”