FOXBORO – Before the Patriots’ highly anticipated quarterback decision, Drake Maye received a glowing review from offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
Before Thursday’s practice, Van Pelt said he was impressed with Maye and the steady improvement New England’s first-round rookie QB has shown.
Maye will battle experienced Jacoby Brissett, who remains the favorite to start against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1.
“(Maye has) progressed every day, and that’s the most important thing,” Van Pelt said. “There’s no going back. He takes what he’s learned from previous practices and applies it to the next practice. He’s been really impressive, especially the last few weeks.”
Van Pelt said the decision on when to start Maye depends “a little bit, but not entirely” on the status of New England’s untested offensive line. The Patriots have tried more than a half-dozen starting offensive lineups this summer in search of consistency at the tackle positions.
Maye has played almost exclusively with the second line since the start of training camp, although he has seen a slight increase in first-team appearances recently. Van Pelt said he wants to see the 21-year-old in the front line more.
“Obviously we need to get (Maye) out there and see him play,” Van Pelt said. “If possible, we would obviously like to get him out there with the first group and see him play with the first offense.”
When asked what was stopping him from giving Maye more opportunities in the first team, Van Pelt replied: “Jacoby.”
“Right now, he’s our starting quarterback,” he said of Brissett. “The good news is we get to play everybody this week. We’re still in the evaluation process. We have one more preseason game and our guys are going to play, so we have a chance to evaluate them.”
Van Pelt said he has full confidence in the 31-year-old Brissett, whom he coached with the Browns in 2022, but Maye is carving out a position of his own. Maye outperformed his veteran position mate in New England’s second preseason game, and his increased confidence was visible on the practice field.
“Jacoby has a ton of experience, not just in the NFL but in this system,” Van Pelt said. “We won games with him in Cleveland, so I’m happy with his understanding. But Drake keeps pushing.”
“His confidence is growing,” added quarterback coach TC McCartney, “and he’s getting better and better. It’s really good.”
The Patriots plan to make their final decision on which quarterback will start by next Monday or Tuesday, according to head coach Jerod Mayo. Their final preseason game will be Sunday night against the Washington Commanders. All four quarterbacks (Brissett, Maye, Joe Milton III and Bailey Zappe) are expected to be in action when New England makes its final evaluation of the 53-man roster.
Beyond the competition behind the center position, Van Pelt said the Patriots’ offense as a whole has improved significantly since the start of training camp.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress on offense,” he said. “There’s a lot of new things to learn. Obviously the system is new, the language is new, some of the techniques we’re teaching are new, and you’re starting to see it pay off. I think in the last couple of practices, last week or so, some of that has shown up in our game, so we feel like we’re going to have a pretty good year.”
