On Thursday, Patriots coordinators and defensive coaches met with the media before their afternoon practice on the upper grass fields behind Gillette Stadium.
With conversation surrounding the starting quarterback position in New England continuing to ring loudly throughout the region, the topic of Drake Maye’s development was, unsurprisingly, front-and-center.
The 70-30 split of first-team practice reps between Maye and starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett has been well-documented, and head coach Jerod Mayo used part of his press conference on Wednesday to emphasize the positive reps Maye is getting outside of that 30% share.
And with Maye’s one series of garbage time action in Week 3 leading the Patriots to their lone trip to the red zone, the momentum seems to be building towards Maye eventually being handed the keys to the castle.
But at the current moment, Brissett is still QB1 at 1 Patriot Place.
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt talked about the balancing act of getting Brissett ready week-to-week while also putting an emphasis on Maye’s development with the starters.
“It’s a fine line, it definitely is,” said Van Pelt. “For me, it’s all about the Sunday game to start. Like, I feel like that guy’s gotta get every opportunity he can. At the same time, you want to develop Drake along. So it’s a fine line of deciding what, ‘Has Jacoby had a 1,000 reps in?’ Then maybe he doesn’t need this rep in practice. Then we can get Drake some growth there and give him that rep.
“If it’s something that’s new that’s in the system that week - you know, it’s a new play - then obviously we’re not going to be able to get Drake that rep. So it’s finding the fine line of what we’ve had a ton of reps in and what we feel comfortable taking away from Jacoby to get to Drake. But both are ultimately important.”
When Maye is getting the reps, Van Pelt said his rookie QB has looked “really good.”
“He’s continuing to grow,” said Van Pelt. “I think the game experience the other night will only help him moving forward. But we found some plays, and I think we’re starting to see him grow on the practice field as well.”
Even with as bad as the offensive line looked in the 24-3 loss to the Jets, Van Pelt said there was no hesitation with putting Maye in the game for the final series of the game.
Van Pelt said, “At that point, we felt like the best thing for him was to get in there and get him some snaps.”
It’s not just the offensive coaching staff who has been impressed with Maye’s progression so far this season, as defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington said he likes what he has seen from Maye while running the scout team reps against his first-team defense.
“For me, Drake has improved every day,” said the first-year coordinator. “Every week he’s improved, from the first day he got here. And so I think he’s earning the trust and respect from his teammates, which is good and what you need to be able to do.
“We ask every player to try to improve everyday, try to be better than what you was yesterday. And I think that’s what he’s working towards. I can’t speak offensively what he’s doing, like making the right reads and all that stuff - I’ll let them do that. But I do know that it seems like he’s improving on a week-to-week, day-to-day basis.”
Covington’s safeties coach Brian Belichick echoed his boss on Maye.
“I’ll leave that to the offensive coaches, but I enjoy watching him, competing against him,” said Belichick. “You know, it’s been fun, and it’s fun to work with the quarterbacks on the other side - ask them about stuff, work on the look for the opponent, stuff like that. He’s been awesome with that.
“Obviously he’s getting more and more experience in the offense, and it’s fun to watch him and work with him.”
We shall see if this high praise for the rookie backup quarterback eventually leads to a title change, as QB2 continues his development plan towards becoming QB1.
Until then, Brissett it is.