While starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett did exactly what he needed to do last Sunday to get the Patriots a 16-10 victory in Cincinnati, the storyline for the rest of New England’s season is likely to remain the same: When will rookie quarterback Drake Maye play?
The answer right now, of course, is we don’t know. The Patriots are 1-0, their offense ran (relatively) smooth in Week 1, and the organization supposedly has a detailed development plan in place for the rookie that they’ve kept under wraps — until now.
In speaking with CBS Sports Network on Monday, sideline reporter Evan Washburn — who was on-site for New England’s win this weekend against the Bengals — shared some insight that he and the rest of the broadcast team received from head coach Jerod Mayo about how they’re bringing Maye along:
“Some of the nuts and bolts of it are this: Jacoby’s the starter, he won the job in the offseason and training camp. Drake Maye’s the No. 2, but during the week he gets 30% of the first team reps — and for those that don’t know, a backup in a normal NFL situation, if they get 5-10% of the first team reps, that would be a lot.”
He continued: “Those are valued extremely high by the starter. I mean, you go back to the Tom Brady days, the backup ain’t getting any reps. So that tells you how much they’re investing in what Drake Maye’s getting out of this year even though at the moment, he’s not the starter.”
When asked earlier this month about Maye’s role in practice outside of his reps with the Patriots’ offense, Mayo told the media that he’ll be getting some run with New England’s “show team”, aka their scout team, against DeMarcus Covington’s defense. While this is an uncommon practice for a backup as they’re normally getting ready for the opponent’s defense, the Patriots are adding a wrinkle to it as to enhance Maye’s development:
“On top of that, when he’s running the scout team he’s not getting a heads up of what he’s going to face,” explained Washburn. “So it’s not a situation where he’s there just to help out the first-team defense, they wanna use that as live game reps, if you will, for Drake Maye to face what appears to be… a top-tier defense in New England.”
Throughout the Patriots’ three preseason games this summer, Maye completed 21 of 34 attempts (62%), for 192 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 32 yards and a score on the ground. The former Tar Heel looked poised in an otherwise shaky offense, and proved that he at least has the skillset to succeed at the next level.
Now, it’s seemingly up to Alex Van Pelt and co. to get develop him off the field as New England looks to continue to win games on the field. Their next test is this coming Sunday at 1 p.m. versus the Seahawks.
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