FOXBOROUGH Mass- There is only one preseason game remaining and that means that Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf don't have much time until they have to make the final decision on who will be the starting quarterback. 

New England travels to take on the Washington Commanders on Sunday, with the Patriots head coach telling reporters on Wednesday that all four quarterbacks are expected to play. 

So that means it will be the final opportunity for Drake Maye and Jacoby Brissett to prove who the real starter is. 

And after that game, Mayo is expected to make his decision. He provided a timeline of when he expects to have the final decision.

"I would say by Monday night, we should know who the quarterback is," he told reporters before practice. "A Sunday night game, it's always hard to really crank through the film. Especially on the road. But I think Monday, Tuesday, you probably need to know who it is."

But while the coaching staff might know, that doesn't mean they will be ready to make it public,

"Now, that doesn't mean I'll tell you on Monday or Tuesday," Mayo added. 

The original plan was for Brissett to start, with Maye learning from the veteran and getting ready to take over either during the season or the following year. And Mayo continued to make that clear, saying the Brissett was going to be the starter all throughout the spring and into the summer. 

But after that second preseason game, he has changed his tone a bit. 

“100%… We don’t have a starting QB right now. When it’s time we’ll announce that," Mayo first said on WEEI's the Greg Hill Show on Monday morning. "He could absolutely be QB1, so could Jacoby.”

So on Wednesday, Mayo was asked about this shift in his tone. 

 "I would say, you come into camp, and you want to have an idea of how it's going. It's still a competition, and Jacoby is still QB1," the head coach said. "It's a competition amongst all the guys on the field, including the quarterback spot. So, hopefully that makes sense to you guys. But he's still QB1."

Brissett had a solid training camp, but has really struggled in the preseason games. On the other hand, Maye had an impressive showing against the Philadelphia Eagles, which included his first NFL touchdown (we're still counting it even though it's preseason).

Maye still has to prove himself to earn that starting spot and he doesn't have much more time. But it is clear the competition is a lot closer than it was at the beginning.