What advice Patriots veteran leaders are giving Drake Maye
Two key veteran members of the Patriots’ offense shared their advice for rookie quarterback Drake Maye ahead of his first training camp.
On Wednesday morning, 2024 third overall pick Drake Maye will head onto the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium in Foxborough for his first ever NFL training camp practice. Maye’s immediate goals include beating out veteran Jacoby Brissett for the Patriots’ starting quarterback job and getting on the field as soon as possible in 2024, while his long-term development will also be in focus throughout the summer and the season.
As the third overall pick, and given the nature of his position, Maye’s development is monumentally important to the Patriots’ future both in the short- and long-term. That development process goes beyond him to both coaches and veteran leaders in the locker room. Some of those team leaders spoke to the media on Tuesday ahead of the first training camp practice and shared their advice for Maye, with some coming from a player he’s competing directly against.
“It’s a competition,” Brissett shared when asked his message to Maye ahead of camp. “It’s work now. It’s no scholarships anymore. It’s your job. And that’s what makes it so fun. You know, it’s you get to go out there and compete every day, and you understand that somebody else is trying to take your job. I learned that my rookie year, you know, with the guys that I had in my room. So, it’s definitely something that I’ve carried throughout my career so far, and that doesn’t change.”
That comment comes as head coach Jerod Mayo left the door open when asked about Maye potentially starting Week 1. “If [Drake Maye] comes out here and he lights it up – and once again it goes back to the quality of reps – it could absolutely happen,” Mayo said on Tuesday.
Maye isn’t just getting advice from inside the quarterback room. Center and team captain David Andrews also shared what he’s telling Maye – and himself.
“Just take it day by day. And I think the stuff you tell younger players, you got to remind yourself of,” Andrews said. “You constantly have to try to remind yourself because there are good advice (sic). No matter if you’re playing your first year, second year, 10th year, 20th year. I think one thing – there’s a lot of old sayings and football and stuff and a lot of them ring true – when you will come off the practice field, it’s never as good as you think and it’s never as bad as you think.”
“So I think that’s a big one. It’s never as bad as never as good as you think. And you can’t ride those waves. It’s just steady every day. You can’t look too far ahead in the future. I think those things are big for young players, but they’re big to remind yourself. You’ve gotta take it day-by-day, meeting-by-meeting, whatever’s next,” he added. “Those challenges, those up and downs, those are what make you as a player. And that’s how you learn.”
Maye is likely getting more advice too, from other players who didn’t speak on Tuesday. We’ll see how he puts that all into practice starting Wednesday, when Patriots training camp practices begin.
