Jacoby Brissett suffers shoulder injury in Patriots loss

New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett suffered a right throwing shoulder injury in the first half of Sunday’s 20-10 preseason loss to the Washington Commanders. Coach Jerod Mayo indicated he would have been able to continue playing if the plan had been to keep him playing longer.

“I talked to him, but we’ll see (Monday). You always feel a little stiffer the next day,” Mayo said. “But he said he was fine.”

Brissett grimaced after being sacked by Washington’s K.J. Henry on the sixth offensive play, when the 6-foot-4, 255-pound Henry got in free on a blocking miscue and landed the full force of his body on Brissett’s right shoulder. As Brissett stood up, he reached across his chest to grab the front of his right shoulder.

Brissett stayed in the game and completed a 6-yard pass on the next play, then made a razor-sharp deep pass to receiver KJ Osborn, but the pass was dropped.

He was then removed from the game, which Mayo said was the intention, so that rookie Drake Maye could play until the end of the second quarter.

“He could have played on,” Mayo said of Brissett, who spent the rest of the evening on the sidelines.

Instead of Brissett, Maye finished 13-of-20 for 126 yards and one touchdown, which came on his first drive. Maye also had a 17-yard run, which was a key play to set up the team’s only touchdown of the game.

If Brissett’s injury turns out to be more serious, Mayo and his coaching staff would then evaluate whether they were comfortable turning things over to Maye, the No. 3 overall pick in the draft. Mayo declined to commit to that after Sunday’s game, citing a need to review film.

“I’d like to be 100 percent confident here: he’s our second-best quarterback on our roster right now,” Mayo said.

But potentially complicating that possibility is the surrounding offensive cast, particularly on the offensive line. The Patriots’ best offensive line (minus center David Andrews) was assessed eight penalties on Sunday, and there was also one bad shotgun snap, another botched center/quarterback exchange and a blocking foul on the play Brissett was sacked. Four of the eight penalties were for misalignment — three to left tackle Chukwuma Okorafor and one to right tackle Mike Onwenu.

In addition to Brissett and Maye, the Patriots also have rookie Joe Milton III and third-year veteran Bailey Zappe on the quarterback list ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to trim the roster to 53 players.

From the beginning of training camp, Mayo has consistently maintained that Brissett is the starter and that Mayo has a shot at the job if he “puts it to work.”

When asked if he would feel ready if called up for the season opener, Maye said, “Yeah, I think I would feel ready. I think I’m ready for whatever this football team asks of me and ready to go out there and try to beat the Bengals in Week 1.”