NEWS FLASH: Jacoby Brissett considers quitting football now

Jacoby Brissett considered quitting football now he’s starting for the Patriots

Jacoby Brissett was waiting in front of his locker as the doors opened on Thursday when reporters ran in, circled him, and put their phones, cameras, and microphones in his face.

The 31-year-old veteran has witnessed similar events unfold over the years. In some of them, he was the quarterback that everyone ran to. Others were disappointed, and he watched as the backup who lost the competition.

Brissett wasn’t sure he’d ever reach number one again, so Thursday was especially crucial to him. New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo selected him as the starting quarterback over youngster Drake Maye, the third overall pick in this year’s draft.

“It’s nothing I take for granted,” Brissett added. “I am excited. It’s taken a lot of effort, hard days and nights, to get to this position.”

His long football career, which included stops with the Colts, Dolphins, Browns, and Commanders, has led him back to where he started: with the Patriots, who took him in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Unlike last year, when he was the No. 3 option behind Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo, he will take the first snap when the 2024 team opens the regular season on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals on September 8 (1 p.m. ET; CBS).

“It’s nothing I take for granted,” Brissett added. “I am excited. It’s taken a lot of effort, hard days and nights, to get to this position.”

His long football career, which included stops with the Colts, Dolphins, Browns, and Commanders, has led him back to where he started: with the Patriots, who took him in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Unlike last year, when he was the No. 3 option behind Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo, he will take the first snap when the 2024 team opens the regular season on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals on September 8 (1 p.m. ET; CBS).

Brissett is no stranger to competing for his job. He’s had to do it at every stop of his career. But with guidance from mentor and NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, adviser Abe Elam, and finding help in therapy, Brissett has been able to sustain his career.

Brissett is one of six quarterbacks left on NFL rosters from the 2016 draft, with No. 1 pick Jared Goff, No. 2 Carson Wentz, and fourth-round pick Dak Prescott.

Brissett’s strongest supporters include Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterback coach T.C. McCartney. They coached him in Cleveland in 2022, when Brissett played 11 games in place of suspended quarterback Deshaun Watson, going 4-7 and totaling 2,608 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and six interceptions.

They aimed Brissett as their top option in their first season in New England, knowing they’d be developing a highly recruited rookie behind him, who turned out to be Maye. Brissett signed a one-year contract for $8 million with the team on the first day of free agency.

“He’s a stud, there’s no question,” Van Pelt added. “That’s why he’s here—as a person, a leader, and a player. He has excellent grasp of this offense.”

PARCELLS, who coached the Patriots from 1993 to 1996, has known Brissett since he was in high school and has maintained in touch.

“After every game I’ve played in my career, Parcells has called me,” he told me. “He’s a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest football coaches of all time. I joke with people, ‘That’s exactly like my grandfather.'”

The link began when Parcells, who lives in Florida, attended a football practice at Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens. He fell in love with Brissett, who, at 15, led Dwyer to its first state championship during his junior season.

Parcells, a brilliant motivator throughout his coaching tenure that includes two Super Bowl titles with the New York Giants, has given Brissett wisdom that is still relevant today.

“Parcells always tells me, ‘Jacoby, you’ll never be anyone’s favorite pick. You will never be someone’s number one guy. There will always be someone the organization or fans prefer above you. So whenever you get an opportunity, you just have to hang in there,” Brissett said.

“I believe that’s what I’ve done throughout my career and trip. I have always been able to stay in there.”

Brissett, who is currently playing for his fifth team, believes his career path confirms what Parcells has always taught him: “That guy was never you.” He was never going to be regarded as a first-round pick.

That may seem apparent for a player taken late in the third round to a team already led by Brady and Garoppolo as quarterback, but it hit Brissett hard in 2017 when he was traded to the Colts for wide receiver Phillip Dorsett.

He asked Brady and Garoppolo how they would handle it, and they said they didn’t know because they had never been traded before. It made him feel as if he were on an island.

Brissett figured his stay in Indianapolis would be short, considering they had franchise quarterback Andrew Luck entering his sixth NFL season, even though Luck was coming off offseason surgery on his right throwing shoulder. The Colts had been fortunate to transition from Peyton Manning to Luck, one franchise icon to another, initially making Brissett a depth option for them.

To Brissett’s surprise, he stayed there for four seasons.

Luck missed the ’17 season with a shoulder injury and Brissett was handed the starting role Week 2. He completed 58.8% of his passes for 3,098 yards, with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions in the Colts’ 4-12 season. He also rushed 63 times for 260 yards and four touchdowns. Then Luck returned for the 2018 season and Brissett spent the entire year as a backup, only to be elevated back to the No. 1 role when Luck retired in August 2019 at age 29.

“I really kind of grew up in Indy, became a man in Indy,” he told me. “One, due to the trade. It also marked a turning point in my personal life. This is where I met my therapist. “My life improved after that.”

After Luck retired, Brissett signed a $30 million agreement with the Colts, which should have been a happy time for him, as it provided him with “more money than I ever thought I’d have in my entire life.” But something was wrong.

He recalls team counselor Elizabeth White greeting him and congratulating him on his life-changing deal that day. Over the previous two seasons, the two had exchanged polite but passing greetings, but Brissett’s response surprised even himself.

“I think I need to talk to you.”

Brissett is still unsure why he said that. He is grateful he did.

“I went in there and started crying,” he explained. “We just started talking for two, 2½ hours, dating back to when I was a kid and all the way up to where I was at that point.”

The conversations offered him something to work on away from the football field, where he started strong, leading the Colts to a 5-2 record that included victories over the Titans, Falcons, Chiefs, Texans, and Broncos. Then the wheels went off, and the team finished 7-9.

The Colts have signed veteran free agent quarterback Philip Rivers for the 2020 season. Brissett was crushed.

“I was like, f— this. I can’t do this. You keep bouncing around from playing to not playing, to playing, to not playing, and it’s taken a toll on me,” he explained.

“I was going to say ‘cut me or trade me,’ but then I talked to my therapist. She said ‘if they’re going to do it, they’re going to do it, so prepare yourself. But also just be prepared if they don’t.’ I didn’t know how to balance all of that.”

Brissett reflected on that turn of events as “one of the best things that happened for me.”

“I thought I didn’t need to learn any more from anyone else. I felt like I was ready to play. Then once I met Philip, I was like, ‘I have a lot to learn from this dude.'”

Brissett was most impressed with Rivers’ recall, inquisitive nature and the questions he asked.

“It opened my eyes,” Brissett said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to take what I learn from him and hit the ground running.'”

At his next visit, Brissett believed he was on the right track when he signed a one-year contract with the Dolphins in 2021. He knew coach Brian Flores from their time together with the Patriots in 2016 (Flores was a defensive assistant), and he was also aware that the franchise possessed Tua Tagovailoa, the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft.

“Obviously they wanted Tua to be the guy and understandably so, but I thought I had a really good training camp and deserved that chance,” Brissett told the press. “I was let down again and said, ‘I’m done after this year. I am planning to retire. Football is killing my heart rather than making me joyful.”

However, chats with White — this time long distance because she is still with the Colts — changed his original instinct, and he gradually rediscovered his love for football. Brissett started five games for Miami when Tagovailoa was out with an injury, completing 62.7% of his passes for 1,283 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions.

In 2022, he joined Cleveland, who was in need of an experienced quarterback due to Watson’s imminent suspension for breaking the NFL’s personal conduct policy following allegations of sexual assault during massage therapy sessions.

“All I heard was, ‘You’ll get a chance to play.'” “That’s all I needed,” he stated.

Brissett fell in love with Van Pelt’s West Coast offense, and by the end of the season, he felt fulfilled again, believing his performance was on par with some of the NFL’s other starting quarterbacks.

Brissett appeared in 16 games for the Browns that season and finished with the eighth-best QBR (62.0) in the NFL, outperforming the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, the Bengals’ Joe Burrow, the Chargers’ Justin Herbert, and Prescott. Brissett’s six interceptions were the third fewest among quarterbacks who started ten or more games.

Brissett signed a one-year contract with Washington worth up to $10 million in 2023, but felt like he “got shortchanged again” when Sam Howell was named starter, same to what happened in Miami. Brissett’s performance as a backup (completing 18 of 23 throws for 224 yards and three touchdowns) this season bolstered his confidence.

That is how he ended up back in New England, where he reunited with former Browns assistants Van Pelt and McCartney.

“I said, ‘That’s it, the perfect storm.'” I didn’t care because I knew they would most likely draft someone high. “I just wanted to be with someone I could trust,” he explained.

VAN PELT. SAID Brissett’s experience in his system, as well as the abilities he possesses to navigate out of difficult situations, give him the greatest candidate to be the Patriots’ starting quarterback. McCartney, the quarterbacks’ coach, appreciates Brissett’s consistency.

“It starts with Jacoby being a great person,” he told me. “You can count on him.” He has no motives other than to improve his football skills. He remains the same every day. “You can trust him.”

Brissett recalls how beneficial it was for him to have Brady as a mentor as a rookie. During a season that finished with a 34-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI, Brady, Garoppolo, and Brissett referred to their quarterback trio as the “Wolfpack”.

Brissett hopes to provide a similar role for Maye, 22, whose locker is next to his. The two had met last year through their common acquaintance Howell, Brissett’s quarterback at Washington and Maye’s former North Carolina teammate. So when Brissett conducted a throwing session in Florida in the weeks leading up to training camp, Maye was among the participants.

“He has done an excellent job. From when he first arrived to now, it’s been light years, and I believe he’ll agree,” Brissett said. “I’m excited for his future.”

Brissett stated that once Mayo declared he would be the starter, Maye approached him and informed him he would be available to assist him with anything he needed.

“It’s the same thing for him. Whatever he needs from me, I’ll do the same,” he said.