The Drake Maye Report: Encouraging intangible quality starting to emerge

FOXBORO -- Drake Maye had just made one of the best throws of practice. Working in the red zone, where space is hard to come by, he found tight end La'Michael Pettway for a tightly-covered touchdown with a dart that was accurate and on-time.

It was a competitive period. Music was blaring. And Maye was fresh off several difficult days of practice replete with, for him, rookie moments. But he did little to celebrate his strike.

A subtle fist-pump. A low-key low-five. 

That was it. 

Later in the workout, Maye saw DeMario Douglas get into his route quickly. He determined he'd pull the trigger in the direction of his shifty slot. But instead of drilling the football right between Douglas' numbers, Maye anticipated Douglas breaking outside, and the flat-footed pass-catcher watched perplexed as Maye's offering bounced five yards away incomplete. 

Maye didn't hang his head. His palms didn't turn to the sky. He didn't point a finger. He quickly tapped his chest as if to say, "My bad." 

That was it. 

Though Maye is considered by some to be a big personality, a confident 21-year-old with a competitive streak, he's appeared to be anything but emotional on the field. On the contrary, watching from afar, he's looked like Mr. Even-Keeled.

Maye has only seven training camp sessions under his belt, and only two in full pads. But head coach Jerod Mayo has noticed that his inexperienced quarterback doesn't seem to ride the wave of practice outcomes.

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"What you want to see as those guys go through adversity, you want to see them handle it the right way," Mayo said when asked about Maye struggling at times in camp. "You don't want to see the explosions on the sideline. You don't want to see any of that. It's all about the next page and turning the page, and that's what I appreciate."

Mayo explained that based on what he'd seen from Maye prior to the draft, he had a sense he'd be able to handle the roller coaster that is life as a rookie in the NFL.

"I got this feeling when we met with Drake in Carolina, just his overall mental toughness and competitiveness, and he understands that it's not always going to be clean," Mayo said. "I will say this, he's handled it very well. I know that the players really enjoy working with him, and he's a competitor."

Maye has had moments both good and bad to this point in his first pro camp. He's made impressive throws on the run. He's shown good touch on shot plays down the field. He's also missed throws from clean pockets. He's escaped to run when his coaches would prefer he make his reads with his feet planted behind his center.

But perhaps more important than any of that is he's shown an ability to absorb a down day or a regrettable moment and respond coolly. Whenever he's handed the keys to the fate of the franchise, he'll inevitably encounter adversity. Mounds of it. If he's able to move forward unbothered, he'll have a chance at progress, and in turn so will his team.

The rep report

Once again, it was an even split between Maye and Jacoby Brissett when it came to the volume of competitive snaps they received. 

Brissett saw 11 snaps of 11-on-11 work, and he took five 7-on-7 plays. Maye saw 11 snaps of 11-on-11 work, and he took five 7-on-7 plays. Brissett remains the top quarterback in every period of practice, though, and is out there with "the ones."

Crunching the numbers

Maye ended up going 5-for-8 in competitive periods, taking three "sacks" along the way. Brissett, meanwhile, went 6-for-10 with four "sacks" of his own. 

Play of the day

Toss-up here.

On his last throw of the 7-on-7 period, Maye rolled to his right, whipped a pass back across his body -- it looked from afar like it might've been a no-look throw -- and found K.J. Osborn for a touchdown.

On his last throw of the competitive 11-on-11 periods, he executed a play-action fake from under center, dropped back and hit tight end Mitchell Wilcox with a perfectly-placed throw on a corner route that went for an explosive gain. 

One play showed his athleticism and arm talent. One play showed his deep-ball accuracy. Both were worthy of Play of the Day status.

Why he's ready

In this section of The Drake Maye Report, we'll highlight the portions of the rookie's performance that suggest he's prepared to sit atop the hierarchy of quarterbacks in New England sooner rather than later.

While the two plays referenced above were impressive, the plays that best argue Maye is ready might be those that are more mundane. He hit Ja'Lynn Polk on a crossing route in an early 11-on-11 period with bodies on the ground near his feet. He kept his composure in the pocket and delivered accurately.

He beat a blitz for an easy pitch-and-catch touchdown in a red-zone period. He stared down a rusher -- albeit knowing he wasn't under the threat of being hit -- to hit Wilcox on their long corner-route connection.

Additionally, Maye's back-shoulder throw to JuJu Smith-Schuster in the end zone should've been caught for a touchdown. It went down as an incompletion because of a hard-nosed breakup by Marcus Jones, but Maye's willingness to trust his receiver and rip it quickly and into tight coverage was another example as to why he might be ready.

He's willing to try difficult throws, but he's not careless. He strikes a good balance in that regard. He has two interceptions in seven practices, and very few of his throws would be considered turnover-worthy.

Why patience is a virtue

In this section of The Drake Maye Report, we'll highlight the portions of the rookie's performance that suggest he's not quite ready to sit atop the quarterback depth chart.

Maye still does occasionally make a head-scratching miss that suggests he needs time to marinate. His wayward throw to Douglas, when there seemed to be a miscommunication on whether or not Douglas would break out or sit, would be one of those.

Maye also happened to be behind center on a pair of free-rusher "sacks." Were those rushers he needed to account for as the guy with the ball in his hands? There are occasionally moments when a quarterback needs to know there aren't enough blockers to handle a given rush. Was there a call he could've made to help the situation? 

That type of miscue, if it was his miscue at all, is more difficult to discern. Day 7 was a good showing for Maye, an improvement over the previous few days, but given the "sacks" and a couple of scrambles, it wasn't an immaculate day. He'll likely need to string together more days as a passer like Thursday in order to soon be given consideration as the starter.