Jacoby Brissett didn’t need to have an extraordinary game in his first start for the Patriots.
The experienced quarterback had Rhamondre Stevenson to help run the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals, who didn’t put up much resistance.
Stevenson ran for 120 yards and scored a touchdown in the first quarter, Joey Slye made three field goals, and New England won Jerod Mayo’s first game as coach, defeating the error-prone Bengals 16-10 on Sunday.
Brissett, a nine-year veteran chosen by Mayo to start instead of first-round draft pick Drake Maye, managed to hold onto the ball and keep the Patriots moving enough to outlast the Bengals, who started slowly.
“He was great,” Mayo said. “He made plays with his arm, he made plays with his legs. He’s a tough guy. He took some hits in the game, and I’m just like, ‘Man, get up.’ He did everything we asked him to.”
Mayo, a 38-year-old former Patriots linebacker, had been an assistant to six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick, who stepped down after a 4-13 season last year.
Owner Robert Kraft, whose team struggled under Belichick after Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay, gave Mayo a game ball in the locker room.
“I’m so proud of the new players, the new coaches. People had all the excuses it couldn’t happen,” Kraft said. “But you all did it, and I’m spoiled now.”
Brissett led a steady 80-yard drive in the first quarter, which included six first downs and ended with Stevenson’s 3-yard touchdown run.
The Bengals were poor in the first half and much of the second half.
Cincinnati went three-and-out on its first three possessions. Joe Burrow managed to get the Bengals into the red zone in the second quarter but couldn’t score.
Tight end Mike Gesicki seemed to make a catch in the back corner of the end zone, but replay showed he didn’t keep control of the ball.
