During the New England Patriots’ brutal 24-3 loss to the New York Jets, rookie quarterback Drake Maye took the NFL field for the first time.

He played the last drive of the game for the Patriots. Fans were eagerly waiting to see him play, but they couldn’t be satisfied with what they saw.

No, the dissatisfaction does not stem from Maye’s personal performance. The problems lie with the supporting cast that surrounds him.

Maye was sacked twice in just one drive. He was on the run on most plays and was under enormous pressure. The debut clearly showed that New England should wait before handing over the keys to the franchise.

In the end, Maye completed four of his eight passes for 22 yards and had two runs for 12 yards.

There were a few things to be excited about with Maye. He would clearly give the Patriots a much more dangerous passing game. However, there is no reason to risk him at this point.

Until New England is able to protect the quarterback at an adequate level, Maye should remain on the bench. Risking a serious injury just to give him playing time would be a huge mistake.

Jerod Mayo still has a lot of work to do. The overwhelming win in Week 1 was a great feeling and the participation in Week 2 turned heads. But this brutal performance exposed all the problems.

Maye could play later in the season. If the offensive line is making progress, getting him on the field would be very important to his development. At the same time, the coaching staff should be perfectly willing to bench him for the entire season if things still look like they did last night.

Still, it will be interesting to see what Mayo will do at quarterback. Now that Maye has made his NFL debut, the Patriots will be under pressure to get him more playing time.

In a perfect world, they could give him that playing time, but they have to be extremely cautious in doing so. Maye is the team’s franchise quarterback and they can’t afford an injury setback due to issues around him.

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