Joe Milton shares what makes Alex Van Pelt different as an offensive coordinator
Ahead of what could be his first NFL game in the New England Patriots 2024 season finale, rookie sixth round pick Joe Milton shared how offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt has helped him over the course of this season.
There’s been plenty of talk throughout this season about the work New England Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt has done developing rookie quarterback Drake Maye. Maye himself has complimented Van Pelt many times during the season, including last month when he said “AVP, what he’s done for me this year and what he’s done for my development has been huge for me.”
But how about the Patriots’ other rookie quarterback? Alongside Maye, Van Pelt has also been working with sixth-round pick Joe Milton. Milton, like Maye, came into the NFL as more of a developmental player (although to a different extent).
Unlike Maye, Milton’s progress has all happened behind closed doors. He’s received praise from the coaching staff for his work on the scout team, and has been named the Patriots’ Practice Player of the Week multiple times this year, but his actual technical development isn’t something that’s been visible to outside eyes since the end of training camp.
That could change this week. With the Patriots not playing for anything (and even needing to lose for draft pick placement) Maye could have a limited role on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. Earlier this week, head coach Jerod Mayo didn’t rule out the possibility of Milton – who has been inactive as the team’s emergency third QB in every game this season – being active.
If he does play, we’ll get to see first hand the development Milton has made. Ahead of the game, Milton spoke on Friday about what Van Pelt has meant to him over the course of the season.
“He’s meant a lot,” Milton shared. “He’s different. He’s a quarterback guy. Usually you don’t have a lot of OCs where they played the position. They either play receiver or they’ve been around the position or wherever that may be, but AVP played the position, so he knows. For him and to us it’s like – just go out and have fun. Understand [to] get yourself protected is the main thing, but also it’s just play with passion and play fun.”
What sets Van Pelt apart? “He’s pretty much doing everything OCs do around the country as far as leaning the meetings, and talking to everybody at once. But what AVP does different is, the way that he explains football,” Milton shared. “Football can be hard sometimes, to explain it. All his concepts – he’s got reasons behind on why they’re named a certain type of way. It’s just like, ‘man like no way you play football for that long and still remember all these names.’ He’s different.”
In addition to the work Van Pelt has done in the facility, Milton also highlighted how he’s helped him adapt in his first year in the NFL with the Patriots.
“He’s obviously the OC, but he’s a great man, a great human being,” Milton said. “His family has welcomed us to Boston itself, even though he’s new here.”
MORE: Mike Reiss on Alex Van Pelt and the Patriots’ coaching staff
The quarterbacks aren’t the only players who have raved about Van Pelt during the stretch this season. Others on the offense have done so as well.
“I’ve loved AVP,” tight end Hunter Henry shared earlier this week. “I’ve loved the energy. I’ve loved the offense that he’s brought here,” he said. “I really do think it’s a great scheme, and I think there’s a lot of room for growth with everybody with it.”
This all comes as the future of the entire Patriots’ coaching staff is unclear heading into the regular season finale. Sunday could end up being Van Pelt’s last with the Patriots.
Will he be back? On one hand, the offense heads into Week 18 ranked 30th in the NFL averaging 16.6 points per game (20.4 in the 10 games fully played by Maye). While up from the 13.9 points per game the team averaged last year, it’s still a minimal improvement. The team will need to ask itself whether that limited production is more do to Van Pelt, or the roster talent around Maye.
There’s also the matter of Maye’s development, which was arguably the most important thing for the Patriot this year. When discussing Maye’s development plan in the spring, Mayo told reporters “I would say overall it would be AVP as far as that lead guy.”
Milton’s performance on Sunday (if he plays) probably wouldn’t be enough to impact Van Pelt’s job standing one way or the other. But since he was hired on Feb. 1, quarterback development has been as much of a focus externally as any other part of his offensive coordinator responsibilities. We’ve seen how he’s done with Maye in that regard, now this Sunday we could get a chance to see if the work he’s done with Milton will yield a similar result.
