An embarrassing loss to the Jaguars will make the Patriots' lead-up to the Bills in Week 4 a bit more brutal than they hoped. They're already projected to lose to their undefeated divisional foe, especially on the road, but coming off a loss like this only makes the conversation that much worse.
There's a lot to be frustrated about and plenty the team needs to fix, with Drake Maye's confidence as the most important issue. He's playing like a quarterback we haven't seen over the past two years, and it's becoming more of an issue with each passing game.
His performance against the Jaguars was the worst this season, and it now has analysts and even some Patriots fans demanding he be benched. And while some might find that dramatic, we're now hearing from former NFL quarterbacks suggesting the same thing, whether it's a good or bad idea.
Boomer Esiason wants to see the Patriots make a statement with Drake Maye
That's what Boomer Esiason said Monday morning during his appearance on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show," which could be considered a knee-jerk reaction.
Or maybe he has a point.
"It's gotta be a psychological thing, and he's gotta be held accountable somehow. I don't think they'll do it, but I would make him sit this week. That's how bad it's gotten, and it's been bad since last postseason. And we all know it. We all see it. But the interception to Travis Hunter was mind-blowing to me, especially after the interceptions that he has thrown in the previous two games."
Because we all watched the game on Sunday, we're very aware of how poorly Maye played, and it's still hard to understand what he was thinking behind some of his biggest mistakes.
However, benching him doesn't necessarily put the team in a better position. They don't have a trusted veteran quarterback waiting on the bench, as Tommy DeVito is next in line, and we didn't see anything great from him when he took over for Maye on Sunday afternoon.
On top of that, if Maye's confidence is the biggest issue, which most people believe, benching him would likely only make that worse. It wouldn't make him feel any better about what's going on or how the team views him, and we've seen the damage that can do firsthand with how Bill Belichick handled Mac Jones.
Esiason's suggestion may not be entirely wrong, because it's important to show Maye that his continued poor performance won't be overlooked or that he won't receive preferential treatment, since any other player performing as badly would be punished the same way, too.
That's something Bill Belichick became known for as the Patriots' head coach, with players still talking today about how he treated Tom Brady as an equal and how impactful that was for the roster.
At the same time, the team needs to put itself in the best position possible to win, and it's hard to see how going with DeVito accomplishes that.
It puts the Patriots in a tough position moving forward. They have a lot of hard work to do, especially with Maye's confidence, which isn't as easy to fix as bad physical play. So they have their work cut out for them to get their season back on track.
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