It's taking everything in Jerod Mayo's power not to start Drake Maye Week 1

We are now approaching the opening kickoff for the NFL season and teams are scrambling with their 53-man rosters.

Some teams, like the New England Patriots, are struggling to figure out their starting quarterback heading into the regular season opener.

Patriots head coach, Jerod Mayo, hasn't made a decision on who his starting signal caller will be. This has confused fans and the media both, especially after admitting that first-round pick Drake Maye was consistently outperforming Jacoby Brissett in practice and the preseason. So what's the hold-up?

Former Patriots running back adds context to Patriots looming QB decision

Former Patriots running back James White recently spoke on the situation. White added a bit of context as to why the decision is taking so long and why the outcome might not be what fans and pundits expect.

"Mayo said in his press conference that in a straight-up competition, Drake Maye is outperforming Jacoby Brissett, but he's still the second-best quarterback on the roster," White said on the "Money Down" podcast. "People were like, 'That doesn’t make sense.' It makes perfect sense. When there’s a competition, not the best player can win the competition. That's just the nature of sports. It don’t matter how talented you are, how good you are. Whoever shows up during that competition could go out there and win it."

Mayo doesn't want to start Maye before he's completely ready. Starting him too early could stunt his growth, cause him to either plataeu as a player or even go backwards. The Patriots want to avoid that at all costs.

Even if Maye is better than Brissett, Joe Milton and the now-cut Bailey Zappe, he won't start until he's completely ready to. The Patriots would rather lose games than risk crushing the development of their prized young player.

Mayo had a solid plan coming into the season, a blueprint laid out by other teams in the past. That plan likely looked something like this: let Maye come in and sit behind Brissett, learn how to move and act like an NFL quarterback, and then start the rookie once he's ready. But Mayo expected this to take time and...it just didn't. Maye ruined that whole plan when he came in and played better than anyone thought he would.

Patriots fans may be disgruntled if Brissett is named the starter. If this is the case, it doesn't mean Brissett is the better player. It just means the team is being patient with Maye.