New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is stuck in the pocket.
All summer, Patriots coaches rightly prioritized the rookie’s work in training camp, knowing what else he could do. But when Maye took off his red jersey in a no-contact preseason, he finally got a chance to show off his playmaking ability.
During four drives Thursday night, it looked at times like Maye was back in Chapel Hill. Although he still played six snaps as center, New England often kept Maye in shotgun mode – several times without – and let him use his legs to play according to script.
It’s no surprise that the third pick overall looked better than he has all summer.
“It’s very important to do those things. Like you said, he did it in college,” head coach Jerod Mayo said after the game. “And the problem is, from college to here, it’s all about the language. Once you can start to link the language you learned in college to the language you’re learning now, the game gets a little easier from an Xs and Os perspective.
“I’m excited to see how he builds on today. But he’s done a lot of good things.”
Overall, Maye completed six of 11 passes for 47 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles. The night could have been even better, but a beautiful long ball – which showcased Maye’s presence and arm talent – landed on the turf when fellow rookie Javon Baker couldn’t catch it.
The duo, however, completed one of Maye’s better passes of the game. On his first 3rd-and-5, Maye opened a passing lane by holding the linebacker before ripping the backside dig to Baker. The completion was a sign of the progress the rookie QB is making.
“They rolled down a safety and took away my options. It felt like I was coming from behind. Had an in-cut that I missed in practice this week that I probably could have thrown,” Maye explained. “I just learn from practice and try to apply it to the game.”
Then came a UNC classic near the goal line when offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt called a zone read for Maye, who read the play-side defender before keeping the ball himself for the sixth time.
“That’s the great thing about this offense with what AVP does, we do a lot of different things. We spread it out in the open space, we bring in 12 or 13 players, we run the football – we can do a lot of different things. We have goalies, we kind of have the full scheme,” Maye said. “I think a lot of what I learned in college – other than getting into the huddle and keeping the rhythm – carries over.”
“Also, we go through a list of plays we like before we go out there… So we have a little idea, oh, ‘Hey, it’s third-and-medium, I think this is coming, this is what I told him I like.’ So he does a great job of understanding our feedback and saying what we like.”
When the Patriots return to the practice fields on Saturday, Maye will have earned the right to play with the starters. Whether he does that or if it actually results in him replacing Jacoby Brissett remains to be seen.
“We always talk about competition, and that goes for all positions. Even if Drake beats Jacoby (Brissett), he’s earned that role,” Mayo said. “And we don’t really consider (the offensive line) if he’s ready, and if he’s better than Jacoby, then he’ll play; he’ll start.”
