FOXBORO – Drake Maye’s late-summer rise continued at the Patriots’ final training camp of the summer.
Maye has been on an upward trajectory since the Patriots’ joint practice with the Eagles last Tuesday. He was better than starter Jacoby Brissett in the Patriots’ preseason loss to the Eagles and has now put in three more impressive practices in a row.
Maye was 8 of 11 overall in Monday’s practice and 5 of 8 in 11-on-11 drills. His best series came at 7-on-7, when he hit wide receiver Jalen Reagor with an intermediate curl, wideout KJ Osborn with a deep corner route and then fired the ball to Osborn with a hitch in the middle of the field.
Head coach Jerod Mayo has watched Maye’s confidence grow since Thursday’s preseason game.
“Absolutely. He made some good shots and I would say his teammates can see his confidence growing as well,” Mayo said. “Hopefully it’s only uphill from here.”
Mayo attributed Maye’s improvement to his “hard work and dedication to his craft.” Mayo repeated the cliches about Maye and how the young quarterback comes early and leaves late. He also thanked his assistant coaching staff.
“I would also say the coaches have done a good job of meeting with him one-on-one and making sure he’s comfortable playing with his team,” Mayo said. “He’s definitely getting better.”
None of this means, however, that Maye will face the Bengals in Week 1. Mayo is not ready to name a starter between Maye and Brissett.
The Patriots have taken a conservative approach with Maye so far in the quarterback’s first training camp. He has yet to play a game with the first team in practice and is just beginning to play with some of the starting offensive linemen. Mayo said it was “very important” to have Maye play with the Patriots’ starting offensive linemen before they are ready to name him the starter. Maye has played in games with the starting offensive lineman. The Patriots have just under three weeks left to have him play with the best O-line in practice before Week 1.
Mayo also said the Patriots are willing to adjust their plan for Maye if necessary.
“We always have to remain flexible with the plan. Right now everything is going in the right direction and hopefully it will continue to get better,” Mayo said.
The head coach would not go into the specifics of that plan with Maye, but offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will speak to the media before practice on Thursday for the first time since camp opened.
“I’m not going to get too into the plan, but basically that was just the extra work,” Mayo said. “We talked about the different tools we have, and all the quarterbacks are really taking advantage of that. Whether it’s the virtual reality, the extra time to go sightseeing, the meetings alone. They’re just doing all these extra things that really pay off.”
