“There’s nothing more important than training,” Mayo said. “When we’re here on the practice field, it’s a little bit more about thinking a little bit more.”
Mayo doesn’t seem to think much of preseason games, as he wasted a great opportunity to give Maye some game practice and experience on Thursday night. After starter Jacoby Brissett played just one series, Maye came in midway through the first, but also only played one series.
The Patriots didn’t ask much of Maye either. He handed the ball off on three of his six snaps and had two easy throws – a 13-yard screen pass to Antonio Gibson on third and 12 and a 6-yard swing pass to Kevin Harris on third and 11. Maye also missed a play-action pass to Jalen Reagor a little too high, the ball perhaps sailing past him in the rain. Overall, Maye completed 2 of 3 passes for 19 yards and the Patriots gained a first down before punting.
Oddly enough, that was the end for Maye. Bailey Zappe came on the next series and was booed by Patriots fans who wanted to see more of Maye.
Maye got plenty of reps in training camp, but it seems odd that Mayo didn’t want to give Maye more playing time, especially since there are only three preseason games.
There are a number of reasons why Mayo didn’t want to play Maye. Maybe Mayo just wanted to ease Maye into the new style of play a little; or he didn’t want Maye playing with the backup offensive line (in his one series he played with the starters); or he wanted to give Zappe an opportunity to trade before letting Maye play much in the next two games.
Or maybe there’s more to it – that the Patriots wanted to protect Maye and take him out of the game before he got in trouble and the world saw how far he still had to go.
Whatever the reason, benching Maye seems like a missed opportunity. Maye is considered a bigger project than most top-five quarterbacks, and sitting on the bench won’t help him improve.
▪ Zappe is still the second best quarterback on the team. He didn’t interact much with the team in practice, but then oddly played most of the first half after Brissett and Maye. I suspect the Patriots introduced him to the other 31 teams in hopes of generating enough interest to trade him for a late-round pick rather than having to release him at the end of practice.
His numbers weren’t great (9 of 16 for 79 yards at halftime). But Zappe played with second- and third-string players, and he was decisive in his reads, made some smart decisions (like his 7-yard run after a fumbled snap) and made a few good throws, like a 28-yard toss to Kayshon Boutte in the second quarter.
But the Patriots should think long and hard about moving on from Zappe. Maye and Joe Milton are still inexperienced projects, and if Brissett gets injured this season, the Patriots could be in trouble with only rookies as backups.
Zappe also makes veteran minimum, so it doesn’t cost much to keep him.
▪ Is the offensive line taking shape? The Patriots have rotated pretty much all of their offensive tackles over the past three weeks, but could settle on a combination. Third-year pro Vederian Lowe started at left tackle after spending the past five practices there.
Experienced Chukwuma Okorafor, originally slated to play left tackle, started at right guard after missing the last few practices with an injury. Inside were (left to right) Sidy Sow, David Andrews and Mike Onwenu as it was a full training camp.
Lowe, a 2022 sixth-round pick of the Vikings, started eight games for the Patriots last year – four at left tackle and four at right tackle. He appears to be the favorite to protect Brissett’s blindside.
▪ A few outstanding: Boutte, who has made flashy plays in camp, showed strong hands on his 28-yard catch in the second quarter, ripping the ball away from the cornerback … Second-year cornerback Alex Austin, who played five games last year and may replace Myles Bryant, had two nice tackles in the running game … Backup center Nick Leverett made a terrific pancake block on Kevin Harris’ 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter … An ugly second-quarter series cost the Patriots at least 3 points. Heading toward the Panthers’ 35-yard line, the Patriots got a false start by La’Michael Pettway, a holding penalty on Mitchell Wilcox and an intentional grounding call on Zappe, losing 25 yards … David Wallis, a rookie from Randolph-Macon, had a 23-yard punt return.
Ben Volin can be reached at [email protected].
