Matt Cassel, handing off to Laurence Maroney against the Ravens on Aug. 7, is vying to keep his job as the Patriots’ number-two quarterback.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

FOXBORO –– Matt Cassel has a few things in common with Tom Brady — they’re both northern California natives, both were selected in the late rounds of the Major League Baseball draft, both are listed at 6-foot-4.

But when it comes to media attention, it’s generally not even close. Brady wins that one in a landslide.

Except when Cassel is the starting quarterback, as he’s been for the New England Patriots’ first two exhibition games. Then, the media descend on his locker en masse, just as they do when Brady is holding one of his weekly news conferences.

The career backup, who would seem to be fighting for his job as the number two to number 12, has struggled, both in the games against Baltimore and Tampa Bay, and on the practice field.

Against the Ravens and Buccaneers, Cassel is a combined 7-for-14 for 68 yards with an interception and a sack. He has been under center for nine drives, and has yet to lead the offense into the end zone.

Despite all his difficulties, Cassel faced the music yesterday and handled it well.

“There’s a lot of things going on. As the leader of the offense, you want to go out and you want to perform, but statistics aren’t always the tale of the tape,” he said. “You go and you watch the tape and you see what you did right, you see what you did wrong, but they [numbers] don’t always tell the story.”

Cassel takes it personally that New England has scored only two touchdowns in the preseason.

“Everybody does. I think that’s what the offense is out there to do,” he said. “I think from the receivers to the O-line to the running backs, everybody wants to go in and we want to put points on the board; we want to score. Of course we take it personally.”

Both of the touchdown drives came when rookie third-round pick Kevin O’Connell was at quarterback; to be fair, while the majority of Cassel’s snaps have come against the oppositions’ top defensive players, O’Connell’s have come against a majority of players who might be looking for employment elsewhere come cut-down day, Aug. 30.

Cassel feels like he threw the ball well against the Bucs on Sunday, when he was 6-for-10, but almost threw another interception. He knows, of course, that there is work to do, and while offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels certainly has his share of input, Cassel seeks out Brady for advice as well.

The reigning league MVP has been supportive, Cassel said.

“He’s a huge support and mentor for me, when it comes to his work ethic on and off the field. He’s a good friend and a huge help to me,” he said, adding that Brady does point out things Cassel needs to improve, but is sure to temper the criticism by addressing things he did right too.

In a way, it can be perceived as a positive that the big quarterback debate in New England is who is going to back up Brady. Cassel, though, isn’t tuning in to the hype over whether he should retain his status as the primary backup or should cede his spot to Matt Gutierrez or O’Connell.

“I don’t know (about the debate), and I don’t read the papers and I don’t listen to any of that stuff because it doesn’t matter to me what people are saying on the outside. It only matters what’s being said internally,” he said.

But something has gotten through to Cassel. On his Monday morning interview on WEEI, Brady, who watched the game from his Boston home, mentioned that the NFL Network announcers, specifically former players Marshall Faulk and Sterling Sharpe, were especially harsh on his teammate during the broadcast of the game.

When Cassel was asked about Faulk and Sharpe, he said he hadn’t heard their comments, but his voice rose visibly while discussing the pair.

“I don’t know why they’re harsh. A lot of these guys are ex-players and they know how hard it is to prepare and perform every week,” he said. “They’ve been in this position before. I think it’s interesting that they would say things like that.”

smanza@projo.com