EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo is sticking with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback.
“Everything’s always under evaluation,” Mayo said Friday morning, a day after Brissett was pulled from a 24-3 loss to the New York Jets in favor of first-round draft pick Drake Maye. “Just so I’m clear: Jacoby is still our starting quarterback until I say he’s not.”
Brissett got hit, harassed and frustrated all night by the New York Jets’ swarming defense before Maye came in for his NFL debut. Afterward, Mayo said “I don't know” who’ll be under center for New England (1-2) moving forward.
“We talk every single week that you’re competing for a job," Mayo said after the game. "We’ll get together as a coaching staff and see where it goes.”
About 12 hours later, Mayo said he would stick with the 31-year-old veteran.
“Right now, I would say it’s still status quo,” the coach said in a call with reporters. “I said it earlier: Jacoby’s still our starting quarterback, and we’ve got to be ready to support him. There are 11 guys out there on offense, so it’s everyone. So to answer your question, that’s under consideration at this time.”
Even if he starts against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 29, Brissett is still a placeholder for Maye, who was taken No. 3 overall in the draft.
“I don’t make personnel decisions,” Brissett said. “My job is to go out there and get ready to play.”
When asked what he thought about Mayo saying he was unsure whether he might make a quarterback change, Brissett refused to fuel any speculation.
“I’m not going to overreact to something I didn’t hear,” he said. “He told me he was going in. I’m not going to argue.”
Brissett was 12 of 18 for just 98 yards and sacked five times before being pulled with 4:24 left in the game.
“I’m a big man. I can take it,” Brissett said of all the hits he took. “I always get back up. Finding ways to make plays, that’s what it comes down to. It’s football. You’re supposed to get hit. You don’t sign up for this sport to not get hit.”
Maye came in and moved the Patriots' offense down the field during their final drive. The former North Carolina star went 4 for 8 for 22 yards and was sacked twice, with the last one ending the game.
“I thought it was a good opportunity for him to go out there with the (first-team offense) and put a few drives together,” Mayo said. “We’ll watch the film and evaluate.”
Another thing for Mayo to consider is the state of the Patriots' banged-up offensive line.
Starting left tackle Vederian Lowe (knee) and left guard Sidy Sow (ankle) didn't play after both were ruled out earlier in the week. Center David Andrews (hip) and right tackle Mike Onwenu (wrist) played after being listed as questionable.
Against the Jets, left tackle Caedan Wallace — starting for Lowe — and left guard Michael Jordan — starting for Sow — didn't finish the game after being injured in the fourth quarter.
“I thought the offensive line today had a hard time,” Mayo said. “There were times early in the game when the pockets looked pretty clean. As the game went on, similar to last week (against Seattle), it started falling apart as far as the protection.”
New England was manhandled by the New York defense, and then Aaron Rodgers sliced through the Patriots for long drives throughout the night.
New York finished with 400 yards to New England’s 139 and had 27 first downs to the Patriots’ 11.
“It was bad. Bad in all phases,” Andrews said. “We didn’t play like how we wanted to play. They dictated what we wanted to do. Hats off to them. They had a good plan and played a lot better than we did tonight.”
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New York Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood (44) reacts after sacking New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood (44) sacks New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) is sacked by New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (95) and defensive end Will McDonald IV (99) during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) passes under pressure from the New York Jets during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — N.C. State football player Davin Vann was on the move, tiptoeing his way between obstacles in the Wolfpack's indoor practice facility midway through a game week.
And it had nothing to do with the upcoming visit from Wake Forest.
Instead, he stepped carefully through and over boxes of canned food, stacks of bottled water, shopping bags full of diapers, personal hygiene products and batteries. The defensive end known for chasing down ballcarriers was playing quarterback in a way, leading a donation drive to help victims of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina and aided by his family's moving company.
The drive — so successful that it has extended to run the rest of the week — is just one example of multiple sports-related efforts seeking to help those affected by the storm that left a shocking trail of devastation through parts of the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.
“That was kind of my mindset going into it, kind of ‘I hope we get enough people to at least help a little bit,’” Vann told The Associated Press. “So yeah, it was way more than I expected.”
The death toll has topped 200 after the Category 4 storm rolled through the southeast last week, with flooding washing out roads to cut off entire communities that lack electricity, water and cellular service. Relief efforts are ongoing through multiple states, and that includes from college and professional sports.
In Charlotte, David Tepper — owner of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers — and his wife Nicole have committed $3 million to relief efforts through their foundation. The NBA’s Charlotte Hornets and the NASCAR racing team owned by retired NBA and North Carolina great Michael Jordan have each committed $1 million toward relief efforts.
Not far away in Concord, the Charlotte Motor Speedway track known for NASCAR races has spent multiple days holding a donation drive and extended that work into Thursday due to strong community response. Closer to the devastation, a parade of trucks carrying donations arrived at the North Wilkesboro Speedway on Thursday.
In eastern Tennessee, Bristol Motor Speedway was designated as a regional disaster relief center, accepting donations.
“Our communities, friends and loved ones are hurting, and we stand ready to assist in any way that we possibly can,” said Jerry Caldwell, the speedway’s president and general manager.
Elsewhere in that state, Eastern Tennessee State University has been collecting donations, sending four vans to a nearby high school being used as a shelter with four truckloads taken to a church in Erwin. The Buccaneers host Chattanooga in football on Saturday with fans asked to bring more supplies with them to donate.
And in Georgia, Augusta National — the home to the famed Masters golf tournament — and the Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area has announced a joint $5 million donation to a relief fund assisting the greater Augusta area.
North Carolina State's indoor practice facility and Carter-Finley Stadium share the same parking area as the Lenovo Center, the arena home of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. As Vann worked into Wednesday evening helping people unload donations, the Hurricanes held a fundraiser tied to their preseason game against the Nashville Predators and raised roughly $280,000 for Helene relief.
Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said Vann's mother, Joy Hall, who owns the Cary-based Joyful Movers company that opened in 2006, reached out shortly after the storm. Their plan was to collect supplies to deliver to the Durham Rescue Mission's larger relief efforts.
As Vann sifted through supplies Wednesday evening and greeted donors with a handshake, Hall was there with other family members, working her way through a line of flattened cardboard boxes to prepare them to be packed with donations. Meanwhile, cars kept trickling in, sometimes with supplies stacked high in the backseat.
“I was really thankful to them,” Doeren said Thursday of Vann's family. “It's an uplifting deal that they're doing. And now it's just multiplied into a lot of people being involved in it. And so a lot of our players have been helping, a lot of staff — our recruiting staff, our (operations) staff — a lot of hands on deck loading trucks, people in the community coming in and dropping off things for all the folks that need it.”
Vann's donation drive has already filled six trucks with supplies as of Thursday, with more to come.
“It’s very heartwarming,” Vann said. “I’m very happy to see the community is more than willing to give their time and their money to help the people of western North Carolina, even if they’ve never met them before.”
AP Sports Writers John Raby in West Virginia and Teresa M. Walker in Tennessee contributed to this report.
A makeshift sign in a vehicle window helps direct people arriving at a donation drive led by N.C. State defensive end Davin Vann to collect supplies to help Hurricane Helene victims in western North Carolina, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Aaron Beard)
N.C. State defensive end Davin Vann, right, carries donations collected to help Hurricane Helene victims in western North Carolina, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Aaron Beard)
N.C. State defensive end Davin Vann works among the donations collected to help Hurricane Helene victims in western North Carolina, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Aaron Beard)
N.C. State defensive end Davin Vann and his mother, Joy Hall, work among the donations collected to help Hurricane Helene victims in western North Carolina, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Aaron Beard)
