The day you're drafted into the NFL is typically one filled with celebration and excitement after fulfilling a lifelong dream. For Jacoby Brissett, however, it was a bit deflating. Of course, the current Colts quarterback was selected by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of N.C. State, which he told Devin and Jason McCourty on the Double Coverage podcast was the last place he wanted to end up.
"I honestly did not want to be there," he admitted. "When I took my visit there -- my pre-draft visit -- I was like, 'Hell no. If one team drafts me, it better not be them.' And I'll never forget, Josh (McDaniels) called me on the phone on draft night and I didn't have his number saved. That's how bad it was. I didn't even have his number saved in my phone. I was like, 'Damn, man.'"
Brissett's perception of the Patriots as being a militaristic team that doesn't have any fun, however, quickly changed once he actually arrived in Foxborough. The confidence the team displayed also stuck out to him.
"Then I get there, everyone's like, 'Man, it's New England,' and then you just meet some of the dudes on the team like you (Devin McCourty)," he said. "That's when (Terrence Knighton) was on the team and Anthony Johnson and Martellus (Bennett) and it was just fun, man. I've never been around so many older dudes that were so young, you know?
"And one of the main things that I learned was just how to be a pro. How to be able to -- we would laugh in the locker room and decompress when we weren't doing football stuff, but when we were in football, everybody thinks it's like the military. We were locked and loaded. And there was no game where we felt like, 'Damn, this team might beat us.' Jason, you know coming into that from a different team, you're just like, 'Damn, the confidence here is just crazy.'"
Brissett was thrown into action early in his career with the Patriots. As Brady was serving his four-game suspension for Deflategate and Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a shoulder injury in Week 2, Brissett played the remainder of Brady's suspension. Over that stretch, New England went 1-1 in the games Brissett started as the young quarterback completed 61.8% of his throws for 400 yards.
After backing up both Brady and Garoppolo that season, the Patriots traded Brissett to Indianapolis at the end of the 2017 preseason. For the Colts, he's started 30 of his 35 games, including 15 in 2019. Last season, Brissett was able to go 7-8 as Indy's starter while completing 60.9% of his passes for 2,942 yards, 18 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Heading into 2020, he'll serve as the backup to Philip Rivers, who signed a one-year deal in free agency to be the Colts new starting quarterback.
