All six first-round rookie quarterbacks have different timelines for a starting spot. Drake Mayhis time as QB1 for the Patriots could come sooner than originally thought.
Maye, the former North Carolina star, had a nice outing against the Eagles at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night. On Friday morning, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo told reporters that it was possible Maye could be with the first team in practice next week.
“We’ll see,” Mayo said in a media release. “We’ll have a staff meeting later today and that decision will be made. I think he definitely showed progress (Thursday night). We’ll see how it goes.”
Williams and Daniels are already starters from the first round
Maye, the Patriots’ likely future prospect, was selected No. 3 in April’s NFL Draft and was the third quarterback taken off the board. Caleb Williamsthe top pick of the draft, is the starter for the Bears. Likewise Jayden Danielsthe second choice for the Commanders.
Michael Penix was the fourth quarterback to go off the board and went to the Falcons as number 8. He will not start this season unless Kirk Cousins is injured. JJ McCarthy was the fifth quarterback drafted. Unfortunately, after a good debut for the Vikings, McCarthy tore cartilage in his knee and will be out for the rest of the season. He is the first quarterback selected in the first round to miss his entire season due to injury since at least 1967, the usual era of the draft.
Bo Nixwhom the Broncos selected with the 12th pick, is still involved in a three-way battle for the top job in Denver.
Patriots coach said he quadrupled Mayes’ snaps in the game
Now back to the Patriots. Mayo gave Maye four times as many snaps as he did in his preseason debut last weekend. The Patriots have already Jacoby Brissett as a buffer/insurance policy that can be used until Maye is ready for the starting job. Brissett made way for Maye for the second half of Thursday night’s game.
“That’s always been the plan, like I told you last week,” Mayo said of Maye’s more playing time. “It’s always been the plan to let him play more. It was the plan to let him play in the third quarter so we can make some of those adjustments and see if he can handle it, and he has.”
How did Maye do? He led four drives for the Patriots. His best pass was probably the one that was not caught. He threw a 50-yard pass to Javon Baker, who couldn’t catch the pass. Maye scored a touchdown on a called run. And overall, he completed six of his eleven passes for 47 yards.
“He was very composed,” Mayo said of his young quarterback. “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.”
