QB corner: Before the injury, Drake Maye was impressive; Jacoby Brissett leads upset

FOXBOROUGH – Drake Maye’s first NFL action came against the New York Jets Week 3. He was essentially on mop-up duty, coming on for Jacoby Brissett in a blowout loss.

On Sunday, Maye played a more important role until he was forced off early in the second quarter with a head wound.

The rookie quarterback went head-to-head with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets in town for the Week 8 divisional tilt.

Maye had taken over in Week 6 and impressed against the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars. He threw five touchdown passes in those games, with two picks. But even though Maye played occasionally, he still couldn’t help get a win.

The story changed against the Jets, with Maye initially having a shortened stint replaced by Brissettwho led the team to a well-deserved 25-22 victory.

• BETTING: Check out our MA guide to sports bettingwhere you can learn basic terminology, definitions and odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.

Maye gave the Patriots a lead with a 17-yard touchdown run on the team’s second possession of the first quarter. He was forced off after taking an unpenalized helmet-to-helmet hit from Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood after going looking for a first down.

With Maye likely entering the concussion protocol, that will jeopardize his status for next week’s game against Tennessee.

The Patriots (six games) and Jets (four games) entered the game on significant losing streaks. Behind Brissett (15-for-24, 312 yards), the Patriots were able to break theirs.

May: He was doing three series before he left. The first was a three-and-out, as he missed the connection with Kayshon Boutte after a long ball. Maye then put together a 10-play, 77 yards scoring drive on his next series.

He connected nicely with Pop Douglas (9 yards) and Hunter Henry (11 yards on a third-down conversion), and also used his legs.

He had an 11-yard run, taking off into open space, before seeing another opening and hitting paydirt with a 17-yard run to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead.

Maye got the Patriots moving again in the third series. Two drops (Tyquan Thornton, Kayshon Boutte) didn’t help him. When he was shaken at the end of a 60-foot flight after being encountered Sherwood’s Helmet Slap.

Maye looked good. He completed completing three of six passes for 23 yards, with the two drops. He had three rushes for 46 yards and the touchdown.

All in all, Maye continued to progress and impress during his shortened stint. Going forward, he will likely be sidelined with the concussion.

Brissett: Firstly, he gets points for noticing that Maye wasn’t quite right after getting that hit and going over to check on the rookie between the first and second quarters. Maye ended up in the blue tent after the Patriots’ drive came to a halt.

So he took over in the second quarter, and when Alex Van Pelt returned to the conservative playbook, he didn’t do much.

That changed in the second half, as Brissett led three scoring drives en route to the win.

It started with the first series of the third quarter, when Brissett converted on a 62-yard punt return from Marcus Jones. The Patriots had the ball at the Jets 26. Rhamondre Stevenson did most of the heavy lifting, but Brissett hit Boutte with an eight-yard completion, and Stevenson with 14 to kick things off.

The Jets crept ahead, but Brissett led them to a go-ahead field goal, on a 14-play, 61-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter.

At that point, Brissett had completed 10 of 15 passes for 80 yards.

There was no dynamic play, but Brissett was able to move the chains. Even Tyquan Thornton had a 14-yard reception on a third-and-9 from 17 on that drive.

Once again the Jets answered, but Brissett wasn’t done yet. Brissett took over at the 30 with 2:57 left and led a 10-play, 77-yard drive with Rhamondre Stevenson running in on fourth down from the one-yard line.

Brissett aided the drive with a 34-yard pass to Boutte and a 14-yard scramble.