FOXBORO – Drake Maye faces a challenge that goes beyond improving his foot game or diagnosing the challenges the Patriots defense throws at him in practice.
He turns 22 next week. He knows he’s one of the youngest players on the roster. He knows what he doesn’t know. He knows he has great resources in the veterans around him to learn from.
But he’s also a quarterback. And the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft. He’s the leader of his rookie class. And soon he’ll be the leader of the entire locker room at One Patriot Place.
When asked on Wednesday what the most difficult part of his job was at the moment, he stressed that he currently lives in two separate worlds.
“The hardest part of my job,” Maye repeated thoughtfully. “I think it’s just a balance between having veterans around who know what they’re doing or are helping me out in some way, and my ability to be the young guy in the rookie class who knows the most and tries to teach the young guys.”
“Balancing the quarterback role, or hey, there are guys like David (Andrews) and Chuks (Chukwuma Okorafor) and KJ (Osborn) who have played in games and playoff games and know all these things that I’m trying to learn from.”
“And then for me there are the young guys here. Me and (Ja’Lynn Polk) and Javon (Baker) and Layden (Robinson) and Caedan (Wallace). Young guys trying to step up together. And I think as a quarterback it’s my job to kind of take them along.”
Maye has already reached an intriguing point in his young career, putting pressure on presumed starter Jacoby Brissett over the past two weeks.
That continued Wednesday, as Maye completed 6 of 8 passes and completed his first six passes in competitive team periods. His two incomplete passes probably should have been caught; a long shot to DeMario Douglas bounced off his hands and a block on Jaheim Bell was dropped.
Brissett, on the other hand, made 3 of 6. His first competitive throw was selected and his last competitive throw should have been selected.
While head coach Jerod Mayo has left the quarterback competition open, Brissett continues to get the vast majority of first-team action. But if things continue to trend in a direction where Maye’s confidence and level of play grow while Brissett’s trajectory goes in a different direction, a change may come sooner than many expected.
Maye currently alternates between the identity of student and teacher. That will likely continue throughout his rookie season and probably beyond. But if he continues to play like he did in his final weeks as a 21-year-old, it won’t be long before he’s leading more than just a handful of rookies.
Let’s get to the Drake Maye report for the Patriots’ open practice on Wednesday…
The Rep report
In terms of first-team appearances, the split was heavily in Jacoby Brissett’s favor – as it has been throughout training camp this summer. But there was also some movement in Mayes’ direction.
Maye took three snaps with David Andrews – his first competitive practice snaps of the year with the starting center – and a few more with players like Mike Onwenu, Okorafor, Vederian Lowe and Layden Robinson. (Robinson still typically plays behind Sidy Sow at left guard, but he’s not far from being a starter, having been playing more of the first team in recent practices.)
Brissett, on the other hand, played 15 snaps with the first team players and is once again clearly the best quarterback.
Maye received more 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 reps overall. In 11-on-11 periods, Maye took 22 total snaps to Brissett’s 15. Maye got eight 7-on-7 snaps to Brissett’s two.
Why this split in terms of volume? With the Patriots using this week to prepare for the Commanders’ preseason game on Sunday night, Maye’s workload in practice could be an indication that the plan is to have him play significantly more often than Brissett.
Utilizing the numbers
Brissett went 3-of-6 in 11-on-11 contests and also completed both of his 7-on-7 attempts. His first pass in the team’s periods was thrown short and was intercepted by cornerback Marcellas Dial.
Brissett’s pass was later intercepted by Ja’Whaun Bentley, and his final 11-on-11 shot of the afternoon was nearly intercepted by AJ Thomas. The 24-year-old safety lined up in front of a target for a well-covered Javon Baker and got it with both hands, so he would likely intercept that shot himself if given the chance again.
Maye went 6-of-8 in team periods and 7-of-8 in 7-on-7 periods. He has long been excellent in 7-on-7 periods, throwing with good timing and accuracy. (One of his best throws of the day came in 7-on-7, when he served a ball over one defensive layer and in front of another to Jalen Reagor for a big gain.)
But Maye’s 7-on-7 performance has extended to the team phase of late, as he seems to spend less time paying attention to the pass rush and more focused on getting the ball out quickly and decisively.
Match of the day
Maye’s best throw of the day was one of his few incomplete passes of the day. His deep throw to Douglas came after receiving a bad snap from backup center Nick Leverett. He had to take his eyes off the defense for a moment to secure the football, looked up, felt pressure and charged down the middle of the field.
Had the play been important, Douglas probably would have done a little more to make sure he caught the ball. But on a Wednesday before a preseason game, Douglas changed his mind. That didn’t mean it wasn’t an accurate throw.
The Patriots defense accused Douglas of not making an effort to secure the catch after the fact.
Why he is ready
In this section of the Drake Maye Report, we will highlight the aspects of the rookie’s performance that suggest he will rise to the top of New England’s quarterback hierarchy sooner rather than later.
The main reason Maye has seemed ready for real action lately is the fact that he seems to have developed an excellent sense of the timing of route concepts in Alex Van Pelt’s passing attacks.
Even in 7-on-7 situations where there is no pass rush, you can see him making his reads in a timely manner and finding a third option within the play structure. That carries over into team periods. He seems more comfortable with how routes are tied to his footwork and he even seems more confident in his line because the moments where he looks down on the rush are few and far between.
It is very rare that he is indecisive, running around and almost throwing or crawling around to buy time because the game has been stopped.
This has nothing to do with Maye’s availability in a vacuum, but if the decision to let Maye play comes down to whether he’s better than Brissett, then the way they’ve played lately suggests he’ll be on the field sooner rather than later. Ready or not.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo made it clear that he believes Drake Maye is ready to take over from an operational perspective, and they will find out who their starting quarterback is for Week 1 on Monday or Tuesday after the final preseason game.
Why patience is a virtue
In this section of the Drake Maye Report, we will highlight the aspects of the rookie’s performance that suggest he is not quite ready to be at the top of the quarterback rankings.
The arguments for being patient with Maye have become trite.
He could use the experience of a veteran like Brissett. He’ll be able to learn behind the scenes while continuing to get opportunities to improve on and off the practice field. (He’s been using the team’s new virtual reality technology to get virtual reps in the facility.) He’ll be able to learn about pro defenses in meetings during the regular season, something he didn’t do this summer.
All of this would make sense. It also wouldn’t be a huge surprise if, deep down, Patriots decision-makers wanted to keep Maye from getting into danger behind an offensive line that seems to change on a daily basis.
Lowe was out with an injury on Wednesday, which moved Caedan Wallace to the top left tackle position. Will that stay that way? Will Layden Robinson play guard for the Ones and replace Mike Onwenu at tackle?
Until this situation calms down, the Patriots should show some patience with their high-profile rookie – even though Maye played well.
