Jacoby Brissett's injury is not serious

Coach Jerod Mayo downplayed Brissett's shoulder injury after a 20-10 loss to Washington on Sunday, saying the quarterback “could have continued” if it had been a regular-season game, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

Brissett played two more snaps — and threw a few accurate passes — after injuring his throwing shoulder when a defender landed on him during a sack on the game's sixth play. Drake Maye came on for the next drive, which Mayo said was the plan anyway. The rookie then completed 13 of 20 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown, added three runs for 17 yards, and led New England to seven points and a missed field goal in five drives. Mayo acknowledged Monday that Maye had outperformed Brissett in recent weeks, but the coach also indicated he was hesitant to let the rookie start in Week 1, saying, according to The Athletic's Chad Graff, “We've all heard the horror stories of rookie QBs being thrown to the wolves.” The Patriots will likely name a starter sometime this week.