How all 4 Patriots quarterbacks performed in an eventful weekend practice
The entire New England Patriots quarterback room had a notable practice over the weekend. Here’s a recap of all four signal-callers at training camp in Foxboro.
Saturday was a surprisingly busy practice for the New England Patriots, who ran a whopping 66 plays in team drills – and got all four quarterbacks involved.
Not only did the signal-callers all get their share of work, they all had moments of note. That’s not to say there’s any kind of competition brewing on the depth chart, save for maybe the bottom half of the list. But it’s worth covering the ups & downs of each Patriots quarterback as they worked through 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 situations, especially when there were so many plays, and in full pads, at that.
So, here’s a look at all four Pats quarterbacks and how they did in Saturday’s practice, the final one of training camp before the official start of the preseason…
Jacoby Brissett
Entering his ninth NFL season, Brissett remains firmly in the lead to begin the season as the starting quarterback. He’s repping exclusively with the projected starters in practice, and no one else is getting that opportunity.
Brissett was 11-of-18 in Saturday’s practice with two touchdowns and two interceptions, as the Patriots continued to go heavy on red zone work. The veteran could have had more efficient raw numbers, but in most cases, the pass-catchers let him down.
Only one incompletion could clearly be attributed to a mistake by Brissett, when he overthrew tight end Austin Hooper on a fade to the back-left corner of the end zone during a 7-on-7 red zone period. One pass attempt was dropped by receiver Jalen Reagor, while two other throws were broken up, and another Brissett threw away instead of testing the coverage in an 11-on-11 red zone session. Rookie wideout Ja’Lynn Polk had a touchdown in his grasp, but failed to get both feet in bounds in the end zone.
One of Brissett’s two interceptions was a deflection, as safety Jaylinn Hawkins corralled a tipped ball by cornerback Azizi Hearn. The other looked like a miscommunication, as tight end Austin Hooper stopped running while Brissett launched the ball toward the middle of the end zone, where cornerback Alex Austin had an easy pick.
Brissett and his targets finally clicked during a late 11-on-11 period, when the Patriots simulated a 56-second clock. He was 4-of-4 in this drill, and capped it with a well-placed touchdown pass to Hunter Henry in the back-middle area of the end zone. Receiver K.J. Osborn sparked the drive with a long catch, about 40 yards down the field, and Brissett got the throw off as defensive end Keion White was bearing down on him.
Though the offense hasn’t been perfect in camp, they had a good week overall. Brissett has made more plays with his arm than we’ve been used to seeing over the past 3-4 seasons in New England. Even if the general talent level on offense doesn’t stack up against most of the league, Brissett and the Patriots’ starters look like they have a chance to at least take a step forward from the disastrous 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Drake Maye
Brissett may be the quarterback to watch the closest in the short-term, but Maye’s development is certainly the biggest long-term story for the Patriots organization. And this does look like a long-term plan for the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
That’s not terribly surprising, as Maye enters the NFL relatively raw and needing to learn the added machinations of running an NFL offense, compared to the simplified operation he executed in college at North Carolina. So, Maye is repping exclusively with the 2’s at the moment, and at times, those growing pains have shown up. Confusion coming in and out of the huddle, issues with setting the right protections.
There was less of that on Saturday, but Maye still showed why he appears far away in his journey to elevating to the No. 1 Patriots quarterback for good. He was 5-of-13 overall in team drills, although he did throw two touchdowns in the 7-on-7 period.
MORE: How Drake Maye has handled his first up-and-down week in the NFL
It was when the pass rush came on the field that the issues began. On his first pass attempt of 11-on-11, Maye held the ball for an extra beat, allowing Deatrich Wise to break through for what would’ve been a likely sack in a real game. He escaped the pocket and hit DeMario Douglas with a pass on the play, but he’ll need to make that decision quicker when he’s playing for real.
After Brissett and the starters got another turn in the first 11-on-11 session, Maye came back out and promptly went 0-of-2. His first attempt went deep down the seam but landed incomplete with only Polk in the vicinity of the throw. His second went too wide to the outside intended for Osborn, as he sidestepped an all-out blitz.
Maye fared better in 7-on-7, going 3-of-5 with the two scores, and he could’ve had more. He connected with Polk in the middle of the end zone for one touchdown, and made his best throw of the day to the back-left corner to fellow rookie wideout Javon Baker. That particular throw has been consistently strong for Maye. Tight end Mitchell Wilcox should’ve had a third TD, but couldn’t control the ball throughout the process as he tumbled to the turf in the end zone.
Maye’s other incompletion in 7-on-7 stood out. He pump-faked and held the ball as he moved off his first read, which was a double-covered Baker. He rolled right and tried to hit Wilcox at the pylon, but the ball went off the tight end’s hands. That was an example of the rookie making a good decision to avoid a low-percentage throw into double coverage. Indecisiveness has been an issue for Maye, but not all hesitations are the same.
On his first pass attempt of the one-minute simulation in 11-on-11, Maye threw the ball out of bounds as linebacker Anfernee Jennings brought pressure. Maye was still in the pocket when he made the throw, and while Wilcox looked to be in the area, that play would’ve been dangerously close to an intentional grounding penalty.
Maye also overthrew Baker about 50 yards down the field toward the end zone, and had his final pass attempt batted at the line of scrimmage by defensive tackle Trysten Hill. Center Atonio Mafi had to break up a near-interception by linebacker Joe Giles-Harris after the ball was tipped in the air. In total, Maye went 0-for-4 to close out the practice.
The rookie’s playmaking in the red zone show promise, but this was 7-on-7. When it got more complex for him, he had more trouble. So, until we see him actually get reps with the starters, he can’t be considered a candidate to start any time soon.
Maye’s development into the full-time starter is going to take more than two weeks of training camp, and that ought to be an acceptable scenario. This is a prospect that wasn’t ready-made for the NFL coming out of the draft. But his shortcomings so far in camp will be worth monitoring in the coming days and weeks, to see if he’s correcting them and improving.
Bailey Zappe
Zappe had one of his better practices of camp on Saturday. He got two separate series in 11-on-11 work and finished 3-of-5 passing. During his first 11-on-11 period, he completed both of his pass attempts, showing nice touch with a 10-yard pass to running back Kevin Harris.
In the second 11-on-11 period, Zappe went 1-of-3, but could’ve gone 3-of-3. One incompletion went right off the hands of Harris, and the other, while it looked a little short, glanced off the hands of receiver Kayshon Boutte in the end zone. Zappe’s lone completion in this period went to Boutte, but the receiver couldn’t quite make it to the pylon.
If the Patriots are serious about taking their time to develop Maye behind the scenes, Zappe’s experience could make him a candidate to back up Brissett in the early part of the season. But his lack of size and arm strength have stuck out in comparison to the other three quarterbacks. He’ll look to build on a solid Saturday practice as the preseason kicks off.
QB Joe Milton III
Milton has been one of the pleasant surprises of camp. He’s shown off his arm talent without having to rely on the deep ball, and has occasionally repped ahead of Zappe in team drills.
However, Milton’s only work on Saturday came in 7-on-7, a sign that, like Maye, he has work to do in the classroom as far as running the full offense. Milton went 1-of-4 passing in this period, and on his final play he scrambled right and found the end zone. The arm gets all the attention with Milton, but he has enough size and speed to be hard to tackle as a runner.
As for the passing part, Milton connected with Boutte for a touchdown in the back of the end zone, on a similar play to that of the Brissett/Henry and Maye/Polk TDs. Both of his incompletions clanged off the receiver’s hands. And that may not be entirely the fault of the pass-catchers; Milton appears to put a lot of heat on his shorter passes, which has led to a lot of drops on seemingly catchable balls.
MORE: 12 Players that stood out on day 9 of Patriots training camp
There’s clearly a lot for Milton to work on. He most certainly will not be winning the starting job out of camp, to put an end to that wild narrative. But he’s shown enough so far in camp that he should be worth keeping around in New England and seeing how he develops, even if it’s on the practice squad.
Who plays in the preseason opener?
It would be surprising if Brissett and most of the veterans/starters played in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers. All eyes will be on Maye and how many practice reps he gets on Monday and Tuesday. It’s also likely that Milton and/or Zappe mix in, particularly in the second half.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
