Jerod Mayo saw ‘a lot of good things’ from Drake Maye at Patriots-Eagles originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The New England Patriots lost their second preseason game 14-13 to the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night, but the result was largely irrelevant.
The most important thing to take away from this matchup was that Drake Maye looked like an NFL quarterback.
After playing just one drive in the season opener last week, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft played four possessions – including the entire second quarter – against the Eagles.
Maye completed six of 11 passes for 47 yards. He also ran five times for 15 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
The Patriots scored 10 of their 13 points while Maye was in the game. His best throw of the night was an incomplete pass to Javon Baker about 50 yards down the middle of the field that the rookie wideout couldn’t catch.
In addition to the completions and scrambles that yielded yards, Maye also showed good pocket sense. He moved well in the pocket, sliding left or right when needed to get into better throwing position. These little things matter, and it’s encouraging to see Maye impress in that regard.
It was by no means a perfect performance, but Maye showed numerous encouraging signs throughout the game.
“He was very composed. I thought it was a good drive (for the touchdown),” Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said in his postgame press conference. “I thought he went out there and did a lot of good things. Hopefully he can build on that and we’ll see how this week goes.”
Maye was pleased with the increase in reps and highlighted some areas where he can improve.
“I think this is a great opportunity,” Maye said in his post-game press conference. “There are definitely some things I can improve on. There were some good things, but there were also some bad plays.”
“Missed snaps are unforgivable to me. Other than that, sometimes I rush when I could probably sit there and try to make a throw. So there’s definitely a lot of things you can learn from, but it’s good to go out there and get some shots you can learn from.”
Maye played much better than starter Jacoby Brissett in this game. To be fair, Brissett played three drives while Maye only played four. The debate now is whether Maye deserves more practice sessions with the first team in the coming weeks.
Did the quarterback competition get a little more interesting after this game? Maybe, but Maye will need a lot more than a good preseason performance if he wants to snatch the QB1 job from Brissett anytime soon.
