There’s still one key step holding Drake Maye back from starting for the Patriots
Drake Maye continues to look good at recent practices for the New England Patriots, but there’s still one step holding him back from starting consideration.
FOXBORO — Drake Maye had yet another good day at New England Patriots training camp on Monday, but he’s still not doing one key thing that is apparently holding him back from consideration for the starting job.
Maye has yet to rep with the full projected starting offense, across the board. Offensive line, receivers, everyone. Hasn’t happened once.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo acknowledged before Monday’s practice that Maye will need to get reps with all the starters together before determining that he’s ready to step in as the No. 1 quarterback. Jacoby Brissett continues to exclusively get those reps with the full starting offensive line and a full complement of starting weapons.
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“It’s very important for [Maye] to continue to build that confidence with that group, not only the offensive line, but also the receivers,” Mayo said.
Maye continued to take snaps from backup center Liam Fornadel, while the Patriots tried more varying combinations along the offensive line. But Maye is mostly repping with the backups in front of him. He’s starting to work more with projected starting pass-catchers like K.J. Osborn and Tyquan Thornton, but continues to mostly target reserve pass-catchers and hand off to backup running backs.
Both quarterbacks had solid practices on Monday. Brissett finished 5-of-8 passing, with two of those snaps containing pressures that could be charted as “sacks.” Maye finished 8-of-12, with one pressure. Maye’s best pass play was an effortlessly placed deep ball to a wide-open Osborn, after the rookie recognized a busted coverage in 7-on-7.
Maye’s poise in the pocket and decisive passing have stood out in recent practices, after he looked comfortable and produced in his latest preseason effort last Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Brissett, meanwhile, bounced back on Monday after he seemed to backslide in recent practices, as Maye picked up steam.
“I still treat myself as if I’m the starter,” Brissett said after practice Monday.
Brissett was asked about that in the first place because his head coach is delivering something of a mixed message. It’s getting a little confusing as to the Patriots’ quarterback competition, and Maye’s chances of starting as soon as Week 1, because of Mayo’s own words. After declaring that Brissett was entering camp as the Patriots’ starting QB, Mayo is leaving the door ajar for a change.
“We still don’t know [the starting quarterback] right now,” Mayo said Monday. “We have another preseason game, and then a week after that. When I know, I’ll let you know.”
The Patriots still have three more practices before Sunday’s preseason finale on the road against the Washington Commanders. Mayo also said that everyone on the Patriots roster who is healthy will play in the game. It’s a matter of who’s playing with who.
Despite Maye’s recent rise, the rookie still hasn’t been able to take the quarterback competition to the level of an apples-to-apples comparison with Brissett. Not only has Maye not worked with the complete projected starting offense, but he hasn’t faced the Patriots’ full starting defense in practice, either.
So, while Maye’s physical talent is for real, and he’s made great progress in terms of his decision-making and operational work in his first summer running an NFL offense, Mayo still hasn’t seen enough from him in the preseason to ramp up the competition.
Until Maye gets that much-needed work with all the starters together, it’s hard to believe that the competition is leaning his way.
