FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots had a plan for Drake Maye and followed through, but that doesn’t mean it made any sense.
Maye saw just one series (seven snaps) in New England’s preseason win over the Carolina Panthers on Thursday. The No. 3 overall pick replaced starter Jacoby Brissett, who also saw just one series, and proceeded Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton III, who saw 36 and 20 snaps, respectively.
First-year head coach Jerod Mayo has drawn criticism for his handling of Maye. Is it warranted?
Putting Drake Maye’s Low Usage Into Context
For as much as fans want there to be a QB competition in New England, there won’t be one until Maye starts playing with the top offensive line. And before Thursday night, the rookie hadn’t seen any reps with David Andrews at center — which is a significant checkpoint.
But Mayo surprised many by using Maye’s preseason debut as the setting for his first work with the starting O-line. It seemed like we were in for an extended, meaningful look at the rookie, even if the backup line entered the game for the next series. Then Mayo inserted Zappe for the next drive, much to the dismay of the sparse crowd at Gillette Stadium.
Here’s a rundown of Maye’s seven snaps against the Panthers:
- Antonio Gibson one-yard run.
- Chukwuma Okorafor false start.
- Gibson two-yard run.
- Gibson 13-yard catch (first down).
- Incomplete to Jalen Reagor.
- Gibson rush for one-yard loss.
- Kevin Harris six-yard run.
- Punt.
That’s it. Aside from a 16-yard pass to Reagor, who didn’t make a contested catch, Maye just handed the ball off and threw checkdowns.
Drake Maye's first downfield pass goes through the hands of Jalen Reagor pic.twitter.com/c1Z1ZeGuXk
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) August 8, 2024
It was weird. Sure, the Patriots are being careful with Maye’s development, and they should avoid risking injury in a meaningless game. But that hasn’t stopped other teams from giving rookie QBs extended runs in their preseason debuts.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss dug up the preseason-debut snap counts for top rookie QBs since 2021.
- Justin Fields: 33
- Mac Jones: 33
- Kenny Pickett: 32
- Will Levis: 30
- Trey Lance: 29
- Anthony Richardson: 29
- Zach Wilson: 22
- Kyle Trask: 21
- Trevor Lawrence: 15
- C.J. Stroud: 12
- Bryce Young: 11
- Drake Maye: 7
So, what gives? Why did Maye see the fewest reps of any top rookie QB in that timeframe? Doesn’t he need to play?
One NFL executive was searching for answers in a text to Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard.
“Maybe the staff is afraid that he’ll look bad,” the exec said. “Because there is no reason for him NOT to be in there.”
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If that’s the Patriots’ explanation, it’s a bad one. Maye needs to develop, optics be damned. Perhaps the Patriots were worried about playing Maye behind struggling tackles, but that’s no excuse. No rookie quarterback is dropped into a perfect situation; they need to make it work. And the Patriots could’ve just called handoffs and short passes to protect Maye.
The bottom line: The Patriots won’t know what they have in Maye until they remove the training wheels. With 11 training camp practices and one preseason game in the books, it’s time to get serious.
Jerod Mayo’s Explanation for Pulling Maye After 1 Series
Here are some of Mayo’s comments about Maye from press conferences on Thursday night and Friday morning.
Question: “What went into the decision to pull (Maye) after one series tonight?”
Mayo: “That was always the plan. The plan was to get him in there for one series, to get Jacoby in there for one series, and then really turn it into the Zappe show and then the Joe show. That was the plan going in.”
Question: “Was there any trepidation over having Drake in another series performing with (the) second offensive line? Was that part of the decision?”
Mayo: “That’s always a consideration. If he’s in there, you want him in there with the starting offensive line. We’ve got to protect the guy. Not saying we don’t have to protect the other guys, but absolutely they’re going to.”
Question: “Do you feel you’re going to get enough of seeing him in live action going about it like this?”
Mayo: “This is the first preseason game. We still have two left. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to go against other teams, the two other teams before the regular season.”
Jerod Mayo on QB setup for the preseason opener Thursday night: "That was always the plan."
Mayo speaks on using both Jacoby Brissett & Drake Maye for one series before handing the night over to Bailey Zappe & Joe Milton III. @ABC6 #Patriots pic.twitter.com/1gEBTz26ld
— Nick Coit (@NCoitABC6) August 9, 2024
Question: “You didn’t feel it was important for him to learn, to work on the operation in the huddle and some of the game management stuff?”
Mayo: “Yeah, I mean, those things are always under consideration. I would also say during practice, he gets a lot of reps.”
Question: “It looks like you guys are taking a patient approach with Drake. Why is it important to take a patient approach with him, in your opinion?”
Mayo: “Each one of these quarterbacks has an individual development plan that I’ve gone over with [offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt] and the rest of his staff, and we’re sticking to that plan until it’s time to change.”
What’s Next for Maye and the Patriots?
The Patriots will take Friday and Saturday off before returning to practice on Sunday. They’ll practice again on Monday before hosting the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday for a joint practice in Foxborough.
Mayo indicated Maye could see more time with the top O-line when the Eagles are in town.
“Look, the reps, that’s something to talk to [Van Pelt] about,” Mayo said post-game when asked about Maye’s time with the starting line. “At the same time, I would say this is a huge week for us against Philly. We’ll see what happens in practice and then also in the game. But he’s ready to go. When he’s ready to go, we’ll put him there.”
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Regardless of which line he’s playing behind, expect Maye to see plenty of action against the Eagles, who’ll also play the Patriots in a preseason game next Thursday.
“Going into the Eagles week, this honestly is a huge week for everyone to practice against the Eagles,” Mayo said Friday morning. “And then, really, we’ll see how the reps kind of break down in the game.
“But I expect Drake to get more reps than he did in the first game, against the Eagles.”
We’ll see if that winds up being the case. But if Maye doesn’t see an uptick in work with the first-team offense next week, the QB competition will be over — if it isn’t already.
