Bedard: You can’t compare where Mac Jones was and where Drake Maye is
Greg Bedard of BostonSportsJournal.com joined Felger and Mazz on Monday and discussed the performance of quarterback Drake Maye so far in New England Patriots training camp.
Felger: It was obvious to you at whatever point that the operation of the offense looked better under Mac Jones than Cam Newton. You’re not seeing that with Drake Maye, or if you’re seeing anything, it’s that it just looks much better with Jacoby Brissett?
Greg Bedard: Yeah. You can’t even compare where Mac Jones was and where Drake Maye is. I mean, it was. I think it was one of the first red zone periods of camp when they were in pads and Mac just knew what he was going to see after the snap, and I don’t know how much of that was McDaniels or what have you, but compared to Cam, I mean, who look, we all love Cam Newton, but diagnosing defenses, making checks at the line in a Patriots style offense was not his forte. Mac Jones came from that offense in Alabama and as soon as that happened, I turned to I turned to Chris Gasper and I was like, “it’s over. He’s going to be the starter”. And this was like, the first day of pads. Drake Maye, it’s not even close to that. He’s closer to where Cam Newton was at that point then where Mac Jones was.
![Jul 24, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) waits for drills to start with quarterback Jacoby Brissett (14) and quarterback Joe Milton III (19) at Patriots training camp at Gillette Stadium. Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports](https://985thesportshub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/88/2024/07/USATSI_23815196-1_1722019911_.jpg?resize=1024,774)
Felger: Drake Maye isn’t even close to Mac Jones at this point….
Greg Bedard: No. I mean, I don’t know why that surprises you. We all knew that. What do we know? Mac Jones was one of the most pro ready quarterbacks coming out of the draft in his class, which proved to be true. Drake Maye, most people said he needs to sit for a year or more to learn the positions. But he has all the physical tools, he has all the intangibles, he has the brain, and it just needs to be developed. He hasn’t had to do it, or he certainly didn’t have to do it last year. He might have been on that trajectory before all the coaching changes, but yeah, it’s not close at this point.