Gronkowski’s argument about the Patriots’ supporting cast is a common sentiment among those who believe it’s best if Brissett opens the season as the team’s starting quarterback. New England’s offensive line has been unimpressive during training camp, particularly struggling during a joint practice with Philadelphia before committing numerous penalties in the final preseason game. It’s also unclear what the Patriots’ starting offensive line will look like in Week 1.

Additionally, New England hasn’t made any notable signings to improve its wide receiver corps, which ranked last in average separation last season, according to Next Gen Stats. It did sign receivers Ja’Lynn Polk (second round) and Javon Baker (fourth round) in the draft, but it’s obviously difficult to predict what impact they’ll have immediately.

While questions remain about the Patriots’ offensive supporting cast, Devin McCourty has previously cited this as one of the reasons he would start Brissett instead of Maye to open the season. However, Tom Brady felt that Maye should begin the season on the bench based on his general opinion of all young quarterbacks.

“I’ve said publicly that I think the best thing for young quarterbacks, rookie quarterbacks, is to watch a veteran do it,” Brady told Fox Sports’ “The Herd” on Tuesday. “There’s so much going on and quarterbacks have to process so much information so quickly.”

“I think if you can have somebody – I sat behind Drew Bledsoe my freshman year – what a great player he was, somebody I could watch and learn from,” Brady added. “Aaron Rodgers watched behind Brett Favre. Patrick Mahomes watched behind Alex Smith. When you have a real pro in front of you, he can really help you with the learning curve.”

While Gronkowski, McCourty and Brady believe that putting Brissett in the starting lineup to begin the season was the right decision, there are still some who believe Maye is the better choice of the two. In fact, Jerod Mayo said that Maye would have played better than Brissett after the Patriots’ preseason ended. But the Patriots coach recently added a clarification to that statement.

“I should have given more context to the comment at the time. Drake had more playing time than Jacoby in the preseason and that was intentional,” Mayo told WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday. “So when we talk about the development plan, we know internally what it is. But that was definitely intentional.”

“We know what Jacoby can do. He’s played a lot in this league, we see him every day in practice and we also know what he’s done in the NFL. I have complete confidence in Jacoby to lead our team into the season. And the players feel the same way. These guys voted him captain.”

While Mayo has repeatedly cited the Patriots’ development plan for Maye as influencing their decisions at quarterback, he has not said when the rookie might make his first start. Whenever that happens, however, Gronkowski will have high hopes for Maye.

“Drake Maye has a lot of potential, he’s going to be the man of the future,” Gronkowski said. “I think the team is going to struggle a little bit this year, but at the same time I think they’re on the right track. They’re moving in the right direction. They have a core of guys that they signed in the offseason. Give them two or three years and they could have a team in the future.”