Albert Breer and Tom E. Curran debate whether or not it was a misstep but the Patriots’ coaching staff to limit Drake Maye to one series vs. the Panthers.
FOXBORO -- Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt took some time before Sunday's practice, for season ticket holders and media only, to speak to the growth he's seen from Drake Maye.
"He's been impressive and done everything we've asked him," Van Pelt said. "He studies really hard and puts the work in. We've cleaned up his footwork."
Van Pelt went on to describe Maye's ability to "process quickly," adding that Maye "sees the field really well."
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But, as head coach Jerod Mayo has described several times over the course of the summer, all parties involved understand that progress is not linear. And on Sunday it appeared as though Maye had occasional hiccups with his feet -- with how he was getting through his reads -- that in other practices look like non-issues.
Let's get to the details in our latest Drake Maye Report from Day 12 of Patriots practice...
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The rep report
Once again, Jacoby Brissett was the top passer at Patriots practice. He was up first in every drill and got his reps with the first-team offensive line. But, once again, Maye saw a significant volume of competitive plays.
Each player got 10 competitive 7-on-7 reps. Then, in 11-on-11 work, Brissett and Maye got 23 snaps apiece.
Crunching the numbers
Maye went 7-for-10 in the 7-on-7 period. He continues to be steady in those settings when not under the threat of pressure.
He was relatively clean in that particular period, though one of his completions on a deep over route to DeMario Douglas was a little bumpy in terms of his footwork; he almost tripped getting rid of the ball a little later than what seemed to be the design. He also missed fellow rookie Jaheim Bell on a shorter throw where it looked like Bell thought he was supposed to break out when Maye anticipated him sitting in a soft spot in the coverage.
In Maye's 11-on-11 reps with the second-team offense, he went 6-for-12 in what could be described as an up-and-down performance.
His first throw to Mitchell Wilcox was a good one but dropped. He was then sacked (by Brenden Schooler), hit Ja'Lynn Polk on a play-action "keeper" rolling to his left, and had mixed results on back-to-back screen calls. One was blown up at the line of scrimmage by Raekwon McMillan. One had to be spiked by Maye when the defense sniffed it out.
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Yet another screen -- apparently a focus on the day for Maye's unit -- was rendered ineffective by the Patriots defense on the first pass of Maye's next series. He also had a near-pick to rookie Dell Pettus after rolling to his left and trying to make a throw on the run that was broken up by Joe Giles-Harris. Then, after a delay-of-game penalty, Maye completed three short throws.
His third series with "the twos" went this way: batted pass at the line by Anfernee Jennings, which was picked by Armon Watts; touchdown throw to La'Michael Pettway over the helmet of Pettus; false start; apparent check to a run play that Jalen Reagor seemed out of the loop on; incompletion to Polk along the sideline on an accurate throw, but bobbled by Polk as he went out of bounds.
Maye later went 5-for-6 with a group of reserves on the offensive line who'd be considered further down the depth chart.
Play of the day
Hard to mention a 1-on-1 rep as the choice here, but Maye threw one of the best deep balls of that early practice period, laying it in Antonio Gibson's breadbasket.
The pass was bobbled, popped into the air, and was picked by Ja'Whaun Bentley. But in a summer during which Maye hasn't pushed the ball deep down the field all that much, it stood out as an impressive toss.
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.
When it came to team work, Maye's best throw of the day was his rolling-left toss to Polk after executing a play-action fake from under center. That one snap put on display much of what Maye has worked on this camp: footwork from under center, throwing accurately and on time while on the move.
As a right-handed quarterback, Maye moves well to his left, and he's generally able to throw with pace and precision. Having the ability to execute those "keeper" plays while moving in either direction, particularly while accessing parts of the field that may be difficult for other quarterbacks to access, can help make Van Pelt's offense more diverse and less predictable...
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.
...That said, perhaps Maye's most dangerous throw of the day was also while rolling to his left. Though this roll-out was not designed.
He was pressured from his right, drifted left and tried to hit his target over the middle of the field. Giles-Harris -- who stood out for his nose for the football in the preseason opener last week -- popped the football up into the air and it was nearly picked by Pettus. Maye might've been a tad late with the football, allowing Giles-Harris to read his eyes and get himself into the passing lane.
Though different types of plays, there were what appeared to be multiple errors in the practice where Maye was a tad slow to react. His offense picked up a delay-of-game penalty (there were officials in attendance for practice for the first time this summer), and on a pass batted at the line, it seemed as though he might've been a touch late to let it rip.
It wasn't on every throw for Maye. But, because we know progress is non-linear, Sunday seemed to be a day where he dealt with some hesitation prior to making a throw. That's to be expected as he gets accustomed to a new scheme that emphasizes getting through reads on time.
We'll see how he's progressing in that regard Monday, and then during a joint practice with Philadelphia on Tuesday ahead of Thursday's preseason game against the Eagles.
