After the Patriots’ fourth straight loss, Jerod Mayo doesn’t sound too sure about Jacoby Brissett at QB

“We’ve got to play better, man,” Brissett said after Sunday’s game. “There’s no magic thing we have to do. We just have to play better. We have to perform better. We have to play better with good fundamentals. We have to do all the little things better.”

Brissett finished 18 of 34 for 160 yards passing. He was sacked twice and hit nine times, which is statistically par for the course as he has worked behind an inconsistent offensive line this season.

In five games, Brissett has been sacked 17 times, third-most in the NFL. He is on pace to be sacked 58 times, which would be one fewer than the franchise record. (Tony Eason was sacked 59 times in 1984.) And the Patriots have sacked 13.29 percent of their dropbacks, the third-highest rate in the league.

However, Mayo complimented the offensive line’s work — and may have mildly denounced Brissett’s tendency to hold the football too long — saying it “did a pretty good job” of keeping the Dolphins at bay.

“Obviously there was pressure all day, but there were also some pockets that looked pretty clean,” said Mayo, who started the fifth different offensive line combination in five games. “You have to put it all together as you evaluate. The quarterback spot is like the offensive line: play-by-play. But I thought they showed some fight yesterday.”

Mayo said earlier this year that Maye received about 30 percent of the first-team work in practice, an atypical percentage for a backup quarterback. Maye’s only game reps this season, however, came in a 24-3 loss to the Jets last month, when he went 4 of 8 for 22 yards and a pair of sacks in relief of Brissett.

Over the past month, despite the offensive struggles (the Patriots have averaged 8.7 points per game over the past three weeks), Mayo has typically started the week with a public show of support for Brissett, saying the veteran will remain the starting signal-caller.

Mayo was more muted on Monday.

“My message is that every week – I should say every day – we are all evaluated,” said the first-year head coach. “And now it is no different. That’s kind of how I see it.”

Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne left no doubt about how he feels.

“Personally, as a receiver, it’s about being as open as possible to whoever is there,” he said. “I’ve played with several quarterbacks in my career and I just try to be as good as I can for the quarterback.

“I try not to point fingers, not to try to see beyond my capabilities, to control what I can control. Honestly, I just trust the belief and process of Mayo and Eliot (Wolf) in what we’re trying to build for the future. So if this is what they think is best, then I believe in it. So Jacoby is our guy, and that’s who I ride with.

The desire from some quarters to start Maye, the third overall pick in the draft, is underscored by the recent successes of No. 1 pick Caleb Williams in Chicago and second overall pick Jayden Daniels in Washington. Williams has thrown five touchdown passes over the last three weeks, while the Bears have won two of their last three. And Daniels has six total touchdowns (four passing and two rushing) as the Commanders have jumped to a 4-1 start.

Meanwhile, Maye sits and waits.

“I watch those guys on film,” Mayo said. “I would say every situation is unique, and that includes our situation. I think you hit him in the head, those guys. It was a little bumpy at first, except for Jayden Daniels.

“But those guys play at a high level. It’s normal for fans and the media to say, “Well, we’ve got a good quarterback waiting in the wings, too.” But at the same time our mentality is: how do we develop it? How do we get the boys on the field around him to develop? And go from there.”

Mayo was asked if he would discuss with the coaching staff whether the Patriots would consider starting Maye this weekend against the Texans.

“We are in a solutions-oriented business and we don’t play good football,” Mayo said. “We have to look at every single unit and every single player and figure out how we use this roster to go out and win games.”

Christopher Price can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cpriceglobe.