FOXBORO – Drake Maye got the job done Thursday night. Now it will be interesting to see how the Patriots coaching staff handles him going forward.
Jerod Mayo has been very clear all summer about how he will handle the players’ workload: “You get what you deserve when it comes to your role and your reps.”
The Patriots head coach reiterated that point after Mayes’ performance in two quarters during a 14-13 loss to the Eagles in the preseason.
“For me, it’s always about competition,” Mayo said, “and that goes for all positions … If he’s better than Jacoby (Brissett), then he’ll play. He’ll play from the start.”
Maye couldn’t have taken Brissett’s job in 30 minutes of exhibition play. He completed six of his eleven attempts for 47 yards. Brissett, on the other hand, completed 3 of 7 passes for 17 yards with one interception.
But could the newcomer have at least earned more training appearances in the first team’s attacking line?
The 3rd pick in this year’s draft showed against Philadelphia that when he has time and space to act, he can also put on a good performance.
He hit rookie wideout Javon Baker for a first down on third down from a clean pocket. Later in the game, he threw a pass to Baker deep down the field while sliding into open space behind the line of scrimmage – the kind of subtle navigation through the muddy pocket that quality quarterbacks regularly display in today’s game – but the pass was dropped.
There were signs in training camp that Maye has refined his game, particularly in his finishing skills. In 7-on-7 situations in practice, Maye has impressed his coaches. Those phases have gone smoothly. He has seemed to know what he is doing, showing good flow and precise delivery.
But in 11-on-11 pass-rush play, Mayes has sometimes looked down at the tackles attacking the porous second-team offensive line, seemingly affecting his decision-making and confidence and, in turn, his ability to show coaches what he’s capable of.
On Thursday, Maye had a chance to work with the first team offensive line — minus David Andrews, who was replaced by Nick Leverett in the second quarter — and seemed comfortable. Aside from a fumble and a seemingly unnecessary scramble when he had a lot of space behind the line in the second quarter, the operation went relatively smoothly with Maye at the helm.
Maye showed off a skill set that made him a worthy third overall pick, racing into the end zone and scoring his first professional touchdown, showing the kind of plays playmaker Alex Van Pelt can make near the goal line when the athletic 21-year-old is on the field.
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He made smart mistakes towards the end of the downs.
He functioned effectively when given “quick game” calls, which required shorter throws to be out of his hands shortly after the snap.
He made checks at the line of scrimmage and instructed his teammates to reposition their positions depending on what he noticed from the defense beyond the line of scrimmage.
He found one-on-one matchups he liked and attacked aggressively. On his long pass to Baker that was dropped, he locked eyes with a Philly safety on the left side of the field before returning to the right and finding his target on an island.
Maybe if he plays a few times in practice with the first team and gets a few more clean pockets, those positive plays can start to pile up for him. Maybe then his coaches will have a better sense of who he is now and who he can be in the short term. The second team that Maye played with all of training camp just didn’t give him those types of opportunities on a regular basis.
Mayo acknowledged Thursday evening that this group still has work to do.
“I would say there’s a dramatic drop in performance, not really physically, but just in terms of what you have to do between the front row and the second and third guys,” he said. “They have to get better as a whole, as a unit.”
The Patriots return to the practice field on Saturday and we will have a chance to see if the plan for Maye has been changed in any way by his encouraging preseason performance against the Eagles.
One could argue that this should be the case in a program that values competition as highly as this one does.
