FOXBORO — Jacoby Brissett liked what he saw.
His rookie teammate Drake Maye threw an interception, An ugly loss of the ball on a short throw towards the flat area pass rusher Matthew Judon, but responded “like a pro.”
“He throws an interception and then on the next play he completes the pass,” Brissett added. “Those are the learning curves and the NFL moments that you need here. That’s what I told him. That’s the game. That was your game today, and you went out and won the day.”
Maye recovered from his misstep with a completion to Jalen Reagor and then made his next three throws in a competitive period late in practice to end his day.
Friday was far from perfect for Maye, but her ability to react positively to a difficult moment bodes well for her ability to withstand the inevitable failures that will mark her development path.
Progress is not linear for those who play the sport’s most difficult position, particularly those who, like Maye, are still awaiting their 22nd birthday, but Maye showed some mental toughness in overcoming her day three slump.
“It was a rookie mistake, no offense,” Maye said. “I had a deep throw and I was about to throw it towards the end, and in this league, the runners are going to cover them, so you have to make sure you look before you throw.”
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Maye is no stranger to adversity on the field after enduring a sometimes frustrating 2023 at North Carolina. After losing his offensive coordinator and some of his most talented offensive teammates to a super-productive 2022 campaign, Maye had to learn to overcome all kinds of challenging moments in his final college season.
At this level, though, things will be even more unforgiving. And protections will soon be introduced, which won’t make things any easier. Maye will be looking for receivers who are stuck at the line. He’ll be facing pass rushers who can use their full repertoire of moves in the trenches.
He understands what is coming and understands that he cannot let himself be defeated by the mistakes that are coming.
“You can’t live with ups and downs,” he said. “Every play is new. I can’t be too hard on myself. Sometimes, I’m hard on myself, especially like I said, when I threw my first interception, but yeah, I just bounce back. That’s how you bounce back in this league. And I’m trying to learn that.”
IThe breakdown of representation
Friday’s practice was the first session in which Maye had more competitive reps than Brissett. While the veteran remained the top quarterback in practice — he was first in every quarter on the team — Maye played 28 snaps in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 periods, which was four more than Brissett’s 24.
It should be noted that Maye’s final four snaps appeared to be with a younger group of players and players a bit lower on the depth chart. Still, they played at full speed. And even if we excluded them from our count, Maye and Brissett would have come away with the same number of competitive snaps, which would have been a first for this camp.
It’s clear Maye is getting a significant amount of snaps to A) learn and B) show his coaches and teammates what he’s capable of.
Crunning the numbers
Maye finished practice 17 of 23 with one interception and one false start penalty. He completed nine of his 12 attempts in 7-on-7 plays and eight of his 11 throws in 11-on-11 periods.
Brissett, meanwhile, completed 14 of 20 passes and absorbed a potential sack by Judon.
PArrangement of the day
For the second straight day, Maye’s best practice play was a completed pass to Ja’Lynn Polk.
Maye threw a pass down the right sideline and found Polk behind cornerback Azizi Hearn for a gain of about 40 yards. The reception sent Hunter Henry running down the field to celebrate with an excited Polk, and both Maye and Brissett ran across the field to celebrate with the second-round wide receiver.
Maye appeared to throw slightly under Polk on the play. He also acknowledged after practice that he could have done more to keep free safety Jaylinn Hawkins away from his target. Had it been a direct contact situation, Hawkins would have left Polk in position to take a massive collision.
“It wasn’t a great throw,” Maye said. “Polk made a good catch. Great player. I’ve got to look a little bit beyond the safety. But he made a good play. You just have to give him a chance, right? Give those guys a chance. That’s what he’s here for. … I’m looking forward to seeing more of JP.”
IWhy is it ready?
In this section of the Drake Maye Report, we’ll highlight the parts of the rookie’s performance that suggest he’s primed to sit atop New England’s quarterback hierarchy sooner rather than later.
Despite Maye’s quick-count error and his interception of Judon on the ensuing play, his day was not a disaster.
He found Hunter Henry for three completions in a 7-on-7 period that had the veteran tight end getting hot and looking for Maye for an enthusiastic short pass. He also showed off some arm talent when he escaped pressure late in practice and completed a fade pass to Austin Hooper to avoid a sack. He connected with Polk for one of the longest gains of training camp, once again showing his aggressive, attacking mentality on the field.
But it was his response to the interception, a rookie mistake, that might have been the best indicator of his professional readiness.
You will make mistakes, both in training and in games. Those mistakes come fast and furious early in your career, especially. They are part of the job. But if you react calmly when they appear and if you learn from them, you will dramatically improve your chances of maximizing your amazing physical traits.
IWhy patience is a virtue
In this section of the Drake Maye Report, we’ll highlight the parts of the rookie’s performance that suggest he’s not quite ready to take over the top spot on the quarterback depth chart.
For those who believed Maye’s footwork needed serious work after the draft, his performance on Day 3 could have been used as evidence.
When kept clean in the pocket and able to make a quick, decisive throw, Maye had very few problems.
But Maye made an inaccurate pass to Henry on a play-action play. He attempted a last-second pass fake to one point down the field and then threw to a different target without getting his feet back on track, and the pass fell incomplete. His interception was another negative play that resulted from a last-second change of heart. A quick pass to the left by Maye fell incomplete after he appeared to confuse Polk and Javon Baker, who were nearby, as to the intended target.
There will be days like this for most young quarterbacks, even those who were selected high in the draft.
But if the Patriots want to keep Maye from taking big snaps until days like this become a thing of the past (or at least few and far between), it wouldn’t be surprising.
