How Drake Maye fared against the Colts in joint practice

If you were hoping to see Drake Maye in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts, head coach Mike Vrabel delivered some bad news Tuesday morning.

“I wouldn’t anticipate seeing Drake out there on Thursday, but that’s all subject to change,” Vrabel said. “It’s important that we get the work in and get things accomplished that we are looking to get accomplished. That can always change, but I wouldn’t anticipate that happening right now.”

Of course, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Maye played just two series and 14 snaps in last year’s preseason opener against the Commanders. That was before he went on to complete a league-best 72.0% of his passes for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns against just eight interceptions, while adding 450 rushing yards and four more scores on the ground.

He also led the NFL in passer rating (113.5) and QBR (77.1) and finished as the MVP runner-up.

There isn’t much the Patriots need to see from their starting quarterback in a preseason game. That’s what joint practices are for.

They provide a more controlled, competitive setting where teams can get their top players meaningful reps against another team, while younger players and backups are likely to see the majority of the action once the preseason games begin.

“That’s really the only reason that we do these joint practices. It will be a lot of the frontline players and whoever’s available,” Vrabel said. “Some of the guys that maybe will not get as much work today will get extensive work in the game on Thursday. That’s just how it goes. So, let’s see how today goes, and we can always adjust and plan accordingly.”

Maye certainly got plenty of work Tuesday.

During the Patriots’ joint practice with the Colts on the back fields at Gillette Stadium, Maye took extensive reps against Indianapolis’ starting defense. He finished 15-of-23 with an interception in 11-on-11 work, 4-of-6 in 7-on-7 and 9-of-13 in 1-on-1s.

Overall, Maye had a good day, even if he wasn’t completely satisfied with how it ended.

“I was proud of the guys for, first of all, the effort. I think, first off, seeing somebody new for the first time and seeing some different things, I thought we did some good things,” Maye said. “I think we got to finish off better, and that’s speaking on my part, in the two-minute drill. But you know, we challenge our guys to try to be consistent throughout the day, and I think they responded to that. I think we got some things to work on, obviously. I know it’s a good defense over there and they do some good stuff. So I’m looking forward to watching the tape, but proud of the guys and the energy.”

Maye’s lone interception of the day came in that aforementioned two-minute drill.

To end practice, each team’s first and second units ran a two-minute drill with the ball placed around the 40-yard line and 1:12 on the clock. Maye and the Patriots’ offense started strong, hitting DeMario “Pop” Douglas over the middle on back-to-back plays before Maye scrambled for a positive gain. The drive stalled from there, with a false start on the left side of the line (Alijah Vera-Tucker or Will Campbell), a short bubble screen to Efton Chism and, finally, an underthrown ball intended for Douglas down the middle of the end zone that was picked off by safety Camryn Bynum.

“I got to protect the football,” Maye said. “We were second and maybe 13. We had a false start, and you’ve got 25 seconds left, and we got no timeouts trying to score a touchdown. So I gave a shot to the end zone and tried to give our guys a chance.”

Aside from that interception, it was a solid day for Maye, who completed passes to 10 different receivers in 11-on-11 team periods. His highlight throws came on an over-the-shoulder pass to Romeo Doubs along the sideline, and an under-pressure fadeaway throw to Rhamondre Stevenson in the back corner of the end zone.

"I think our skill position room is great. We've got a lot of depth and a lot of guys that really want to get in there and make plays. I think that’s the best thing about it," Maye said. "It’s competitive in there. You've got guys that are making plays all across the board. So it’s my job to get them the ball, and they’re better runners than I am, so get them the football and let them do their thing.”

Although Maye spread the ball around in the Patriots’ first taste of competition against another team, he said after practice that he doesn’t feel pressure to keep everybody happy in his revamped pass-catching room.

“I think the best thing for that is winning. Nobody really tries to complain when you win games. I think nobody is really that prideful in this sport about personal stats or achievements when we’re winning games. So that’s our job as a team. Come together and try to win games,” Maye said. “I think my job isn’t to try to make everybody happy. I think my job is to have the offense move up and down the field and score points.”

The Patriots will get another opportunity to see Maye against a strong defense next week, when they host the Philadelphia Eagles for joint practices Wednesday and Thursday. Both sessions will be open to the public.

The Eagles allowed the fifth-fewest points (19.1) and the eighth-fewest passing yards (189.8) per game last season.