Phil Perry and Marc Bertrand join Tom Giles on Arbella Early Edition to discuss the improvements Drake Maye has shown over the past two days of Patriots training camp. Is he closing the gap on Jacoby Brissett?
FOXBORO -- This has to be a bit of a mental tug of war for Drake Maye.
On the one hand, one of the reasons he was drafted No. 3 overall and viewed as among the best quarterback prospects in this year's draft is because of his physical ability. He can move. He can throw on the move. Some of his best and most exciting plays at North Carolina featured him using his athleticism and off-platform ability to extend plays and create for his team.
On the other hand, his coaches want to see him play from the pocket. Head coach Jerod Mayo explained earlier in camp that they're not necessarily looking for Maye to do a lot of scrambling in these sessions. It's part of the learning process for him. And it's part of giving all 21 other players on the field a good look at how a play might develop if, for example, he hangs in the pocket instead of looking for a little daylight early in a given play and starts churning his feet.
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Maye said late last week that his game isn't going to change, and perhaps that'll be on display in the preseason opener against the Panthers on Thursday.
"That's part of my game," Maye said when asked about his playmaking ability. "That's not going to change. I think I do a good job of getting rid of the last play, getting onto the next and keeping my same playing style. That's a big thing with me. I'm not going to change how I play. That's how I play. Run around a little bit and make plays."
On Day 9 of Patriots training camp practice on Saturday, Maye might've been helped by running around a little bit. He didn't, and some of his completion numbers weren't pretty as he went 3-for-10 in 11-on-11 periods.
But there's a little context that's necessary to get the complete picture on how Maye performed. Let's get to it in the latest edition of The Drake Maye Report...
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The rep report
Maye took 20 snaps of 11-on-11 action, and he received five competitive 7-on-7 plays; Jacoby Brissett, meanwhile, also got 20 snaps of 11-on-11 work, and he also saw five 7-on-7 snaps. Brissett continues to be the lead dog in all practice periods.
Crunching the numbers
Typically, this is the section of the Maye Report where we give you a tally of the competitive-period play results. Quick and easy. And you're still getting them.
Brissett went 11-for-18 with two picks on the day. His first interception was reeled in by Jaylinn Hawkins after Azizi Hearn broke up a pass intended for Jalen Reagor. His second came on what looked like a miscommunication with tight end Austin Hooper during a 7-on-7 rep.
Hooper stopped running a route because the play had been extended, and with no pass-rush, Hooper likely expected the play to be blown dead. Hooper stopped running his route, Brissett threw, and corner Alex Austin picked it off easily.
Maye went 3-for-10 in 11-on-11 periods and 3-for-5 in 7-on-7 work, giving him a competitive-period final line of 6-for-15.
Now for a little context based on my observations from the practice.
Maye was on point in 7-on-7 work down in the red zone, which continued a trend for him after he completed 76 percent of his competitive passes on Days 7 and 8 of practice, which focused largely on red-zone periods.
In Saturday's 7-on-7, Maye hit on an over route to Ja'Lynn Polk for a touchdown with Hearn in coverage that was accurate and on time. He found Javon Baker on an out route near the sideline as the rookie wideout got out of his break, which led Brissett running out onto the field to celebrate. And Maye's best throw of 7-on-7 might've been a slant through traffic to tight end Mitchell Wilcox. It was out quickly and on target but dropped.
When the pass-rush got onto the field in 11-on-11, the game changed for Maye and the second-team Patriots offense.
Of note, the Patriots were without Calvin Anderson and Chukwuma Okorafor, two of their top-four tackles through camp. That meant Caedan Wallace bumped up to first-team right tackle opposite Vederian Lowe. Maye was then with undrafted rookie Zuri Henry at right tackle and new addition Kellen Diesch (signed about 24 hours before Saturday's practice) at left tackle.
Let's get to how each of his 11-on-11 dropbacks looked.
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First series: On Maye's first pass play of 11-on-11 work, Deatrich Wise powered through the left side of the line for a quick "sack." That was Maye's lone attempt during his first round of full team work.
Had he been of the mind to run around a little bit, could Maye have escaped sooner -- he did eventually hit DeMario Douglas on a nice out-of-structure throw -- to avoid Wise? Probably, but he's also in the midst of this behind-center dance where he has to balance practicing plays as they're called and using his athleticism to create something out of nothing.
Second series: Maye then got Lowe, Wallace and top left guard Sidy Sow to stay on the field for his next set of 11-on-11 plays.
Two dropbacks. One that featured Maye sliding up in the pocket to avoid pressure but then missing what looked like an open Baker over the middle for a nice gain. The next was a jailbreak "sack" with multiple defensive players getting through the line almost immediately.
Third series: Maye's next round of 11-on-11 passes went thusly: Kevin Harris drop on a swing pass; completed quick out to Wilcox; diving comeback completion to Polk; throwaway when edge rusher William Bradley-King pushed past Diesch at left tackle.
The throwaway was probably the smart play, given that it was a two-minute period, and the Patriots were on the edge of Joey Slye's field-goal range. Moments later, Slye made the fourth-down kick from about 50 yards away.
Fourth series: The next round of 11-on-11 snaps featured perhaps Maye's best 11-on-11 completion of the day, a crosser to K.J. Osborn in stride where he slid in the pocket and kept his eyes downfield to hit his target accurately while navigating a sliver of open space in the pocket.
Maye was "sacked" on his next dropback -- though not immediately, so it's worth wondering if Maye had any open pass-catchers to hit quickly -- by Keion White.
Fifth series: Maye's final 11-on-11 period was another two-minute drill. His first attempt was a throwaway under pressure. Not a bad decision under pressure given the scenario. His next pass was a deep attempt to Baker in double-coverage, which bounced incomplete after being overthrown by a couple of yards. That's a miss that Maye, who has been vocal about liking to air it out, probably would've liked to have back.
On third-and-10, Maye took what looked like an accurate shot to JuJu Smith-Schuster for a would-be first down -- and an opportunity to extend the series -- but Smith-Schuster fell coming out of his break and the pass went incomplete. On fourth-and-10, under pressure, his final pass was batted at the line.
If you look closely at Maye's 3-for-10 performance in 11-on-11 work, I counted three "sacks," a drop, and a receiver falling on a route. He also had two throwaways that seemed to be OK decisions given the pressure he faced and the two-minute situations he threw them in; one preserved a field-goal try and one came on first down.
There were what looked like negative plays: two misses to Baker from stable platforms and a late-in-the-down "sack" by White. But overall, his day wasn't as unproductive as the numbers might've made it seem.
Play of the day
Maye's throw to Wilcox in 7-on-7 work threaded a needle. It was out very quickly and thrown into a tight window. It wasn't caught, but that didn't make the throw any less impressive.
Maye's sliding-in-the-pocket completion to Osborn with bodies around him was also worthy of highlighting here.
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.
Maye's first two-minute drill of the practice was a good one. His drive-starter swing pass to Harris was dropped, but he then hit chain-moving throws to Wilcox and Polk. After a spike, his under-pressure throwaway showed an understanding of where he was on the field and where he needed to get to.
Would he have liked a shorter attempt than 50 yards for Slye? Probably. But they were in range without Maye having to do anything superhuman. And the in-structure, non-superhuman stuff seems to be his (and his coaching staff's) focus at this stage of his development.
It's also worth noting that Maye has done an effective job throughout camp of not making turnover-worthy throws. In 117 competitive attempts, he's been picked off twice for an interception rate of 1.7 percent.
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 has occasional misses from relatively clean pockets that are at times head-scratching but might be a result of A) changing mechanics or B) overthinking and playing a little tightly. Maybe both.
Throwing accurately down the field was one of his calling cards as a Tar Heel, but in some of his more rocky practices this summer, he has missed open receivers from clean pockets.
Maye's two incomplete-but-makeable throws to Baker on Saturday -- both of which would've gone for chunk gains -- would've significantly changed the outlook of his performance had they been completed.
