Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is still a year away from upgrading his rookie contract, but this preseason signals how he’s both earned franchise status and had a glowing training camp.
Maye sat out his second preseason game when New England welcomed the Philadelphia Eagles to Gillette Stadium Saturday night. At this rate, it would be a bigger surprise if he plays in the preseason finale in Cleveland than if he sits out every August game. The team travels to Cleveland on a short week for a late Thursday night game to solidify their final roster.
It’s a marked difference from last summer. Maye was the starter and played in the first two preseason games against the Washington Commanders and Minnesota Vikings, resting only for the last game.
His rest-heavy preseason is a reminder of quickly things can change in just a year. Maye was unproven at the professional level last August. He was on his second head coach and second offensive coordinator after a rookie season marred by dysfunctional leadership and a bare roster around him. Together with Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels, the young gunslinger went on to post 4,394 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 72% completion percentage in the regular season. He led the Patriots to Super Bowl 60 and was MVP runner-up.
When asked he has any say in his preseason availability earlier this week, and if he takes anything away from that experience, Maye recalled his rookie preseason experience against the Eagles:
“There’s some great things that you learn, and you learn about being in the huddle, and kind of the operation, and being in a stadium with the play clock and little things like that. Obviously, coming into my third year, I got a lot of that, kind of understand what it’s like.”
“I’m just here with the guys and trying to get better,” he added. “Whatever they think with the preseason, I’m here to play and ready to go out, and whatever they think, I’m here for them and here for this team.”
While calculating risk-reward, it seems New England doesn’t see enough upside to justify trotting Maye out for a contest that doesn’t hold weight in the season while he’s balling out in joint practices. Unfortunately, the Patriots’ second preseason game provided a brutal reality check about how quickly routine plays in the game of football can take a terrifying turn. Eagles running back Ja’Quinden Jackson was hurt during the opening kickoff and stayed down on the turf for several minutes. After several staffers attended to him, he was stretchered into the back of an ambulance that drove onto the field and taken to a local hospital. Shortly afterwards, the Eagles reported he had shown “strength and movement in all his extremities.”
Nine quarterbacks sat out their entire preseasons last summer, according to NFL analyst Warren Sharp, including Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Jared Goff, Dak Prescott, Baker Mayfield, Michael Penix, and Matthew Stafford. Except Penix, all of those quarterbacks are bona fide starters who have won two or more playoff games.
So, it’s not too surprising to see Maye possibly join those ranks, particularly after the week the Patriots just had. It’s not a hard and fast rule that once a quarterback doesn’t play in the preseason, he never will again. Allen played in the Buffalo Bills’ first preseason against the Carolina Panthers, despite sitting out last summer. Then, he sat against the Cleveland Browns, with the explanation from coach that the starters had shown enough work.
Maye put on a clinic during much of his joint practices with the Eagles. The team also had six practices this week – a lot, compared to their typical training camp schedule. New England appears to have adopted the approach, shared by many other NFL clubs, of getting most of their starters’ action in joint practices rather than the culminating preseason games at the end of another team’s visit. Such planning makes sense: players don’t typically tackle to the ground, even in joint practices, and it’s a more controlled environment than a game. It’s generally safer.
The preseason still matters, but like the NFL Scouting Combine, it’s no longer necessary for everyone. For example, Maye opted out of the 2024 Combine, along with fellow top picks Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Marvin Harrison Jr. Players refrain from the Combine to protect their draft status, fearing they could only hurt their reputation by participating.
So it’s now more for anyone in the league fighting to prove themselves, whether he’s a rookie, like the Patriots’ edge rusher Gabe Jacas, or a player clawing for a spot on the 53-man roster, though coaching changes may alter plans year-to-year. For the Patriots, it’s an evolution from even less than a decade ago. In 2017, Tom Brady played in two preseason games with the Patriots, and that was back when there were four games in August.
Sitting out preseason games means Maye will try to author a new chapter with the Patriots against the very team who threw the book at him to end last season: the Seattle Seahawks. He had a shoulder injury that required painkilling injections for that game. When he sees them in September, the Patriots will have gone above and beyond to be sure he’s feeling healthy.
