Notes and thoughts on the Patriots’ new starting quarterback, Drake Maye.
Exciting times are here in Foxboro, as the No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye is ready to make his first NFL start for the New England Patriots. In doing so, the rookie will hope to spark a offense that currently ranks 31st in points per game and dead last in passing yards per game.
So, in order to get ready for Maye’s first career start, let’s open up the notebook with 10 thoughts on No. 10 in this week’s Sunday Patriots Notes.
1. Defending Maye: In Maye’s first career start, the Houston Texans will have the task of trying to stop the rookie. But for the last three months dating back to training camp, that task been assigned to New England’s defenders.
After operating as the No. 2 quarterback throughout the entirety of training camp, Maye has worked on the scout team in addition to taking 30 percent of the first team reps through the early stages of the season — higher than the usual five percent a normal backup quarterback would take, according to Jerod Mayo.
The work has led to almost every Patriots’ defender aligning opposite of the rookie, where Maye’s confidence has stuck out.
“I always look at a quarterbacks eyes,” cornerback Jonathan Jones said. “Just to see their eyes, see their confidence, what they’re looking before pre-snap. He just has that confidence in how we carries themselves.
“I don’t think he’s ever lacked confidence since he’s stepped into the building. He’s been a quiet guy who’s come in, he’s worked hard.”
Maye’s work ethic and mental side of his game has been noted by coaches in addition to his teammates since his arrival. As has his ability to bounce back from poor plays, which will be key early in his career as he goes through expected rookie growing pains.
“In practice, I’ve seen him be resilient,” captain Deatrich Wise said. “Come back from plays he didn’t like and make good plays after that. I’ve seen him run the offense pretty smoothly. With those few things that I’ve seen, I’m confident to see what he has this Sunday.”
“As a rookie quarterback, everybody makes mistakes their rookie year and we know he’s gonna eventually make mistakes,” Keion White added on Instagram Live. “But, he has that poise to where you make that mistake and you kind of just get back up, and knock it off, and do it again. And then do what you need to do and correct it next time.”
Beyond the mental side of Maye’s game, the rookie’s physical tools have caught defenders by notice. Maye’s top tier blend of arm talent and mobility are tools that can help elevate New England’s struggling offense, and what ultimately led to him being drafted third overall.
“When I go against Drake in practice, he makes his throws. He knows how to read the defense, things like that,” Wise said. “From the little bit I see every now and then, looks good.”
“He’s athletic. People don’t understand how athletic he is, like sneakily. And he can really make all the throws,” White added.
As Maye will now take on a different NFL defense in his first career start, the message from his defensive teammates is simple: keep doing what you’ve been doing against us.
“Be himself,” Jones said on his advice to Maye. “Drive us down the field, do what needs to be done. If it’s make a play, if it’s check the ball down, just make the right play. He has some ability to run around, extend some plays, and just be himself. Be who we drafted him to be.”
2. Scout team: Serving as the backup QB for the first five weeks of the season, Maye has received his fair share of work on the scout team. That has led to him mimicking quarterbacks such as Joe Burrow, Aaron Rodgers, and Brock Purdy.
Maye took one key thing away from his time repping as those quarterback’s in different offenses.
“I think the timing they play with, and the routes,” he explained. “I think our defensive coaches speak on that, the rhythm, the timing of ‘hey, this ball is thrown before the look-in,’ anticipation, and throwing guys open. I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve tried to take in the new scout team. Trying to throw guys open, and throw a ball that I may not have had in my life before if I see something.”
3. Helping hand: After Jerod Mayo informed his quarterback’s of the decision to start Maye, the rookie made sure to check-in on how Brissett was doing. Maye, who called Brissett the “ideal” teammate and guy to be in the quarterback room with, learned plenty from serving as his backup through the first five weeks.
“I’ve learned so much from him and seeing how he goes about practice,” Maye said. “That’s been the best thing of watching Jacoby and watching how he handles the whole nine yards, whether it’s preparing, handling teammates, handling [the media]. He’s been great, and a great mentor.”
On game days, Maye donned an earpiece to hear offensive calls and positioned himself on the sideline behind Brissett to get a look at the opposing defenses. Once the drive ended, the rookie then took note of Brissett’s presence on the bench with the rest of the team.
“He just kept that mindset of, ‘hey, it’s going to be the next play. Got this drive coming.’ Seeing him on the sideline, it was the positive vibes he kept and brought to this team and will still bring to this team,” Maye said. “He’s a great mentor, a great friend, and I was trying to do everything I can to help him, and I’m sure he’ll do the same.”
4. Offensive changes: When Brissett served as the starter, he would meet with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt every Friday to go over the concepts and plays he prefers on Sunday. That meeting will now happen with Maye, and watching how Van Pelt tailors his offense to the dual-threat rookie will be a key detail on Sunday.
“I mean, it’s hard to put a percentage on how much the offense will change,” Mayo said. “What I will say is we have core concepts that all of the quarterbacks have to know how to go out there and execute. With that being said, his athleticism definitely opens up more plays.”
Van Pelt has noted since his arrival that his system will be tailored to the quarterback, which has been seen in Maye’s limited action in both preseason and vs. the Jets as just four of his 50 drop-backs came from under-center. Through five weeks, Brissett ranked sixth in the league with a 38 percent under-center rate.
New England’s offensive coordinator can implement other elements as well as more shotgun (pistol, QB runs, etc.), but Maye was not ready to giveaway any secrets.
“I think the game plan is not going to change,” he said. “I think obviously you got a rookie quarterback going out there, but at the same time, what we do on offense is what we do on offense. So, not trying to give too many hints towards game plan.”
5. Off-script: As mentioned above, Maye is a true dual-threat quarterback with his plus arm talent and mobility. That was showcased in his final season at UNC as Maye ranked second in the FBS in deep pass (20+ yards) completions and first-down scramble rate.
Plenty of that work was done off-script, in a similar way as his negated touchdown to K.J. Osborn in the preseason. While it’s a different flavor of quarterback than New England is used too, it’s a skillset that should elevate the offense.
“Physically, look, this guy definitely gives us a chance to kind of get some of those off-schedule plays that you guys always see on TV,” Mayo said.
While those plays are a big part of Maye’s game, the rookie will let them come naturally in his first career start.
“I think early on, just try to take what they give me, and find completions. I think that’s the biggest thing for a young quarterback going in there,” he said. “Then from there, just don’t try to hunt up off-platform, off-play, off-schedule throws. I think just feel it out and play football.”
6. Opponents view: Going to Maye as the starting quarterback with his physical tools and potential adjustments to the offense comes with the hope of sparking the 31st ranked offense in points per game. Texans’ head coach DeMeco Ryans sees exactly how the quarterback can do so.
“For Drake, what I’ve seen is a young, athletic quarterback who has a live arm, can move around really well in the pocket, can escape the pressures,” Ryans said. “I think he – for them, making that move, looking for a spark for their offense and he can provide it. He can make all the reads go to the right spot. He makes good decisions with the football. Defensively, there’s a lot of unknowns with this being his first start.”
7. Blitz work: One of the final boxes Alex Van Pelt wanted to see Maye check before being named the starter was his work against the blitz and different pressure looks. After making steady progress throughout his time on the practice field, Maye impressed in that exact area in his first practice as the starter.
“As a quarterback, a young quarterback especially, you need to know how to protect yourself. You need to know where the issues lie, how the protections are schemed, and where the holes in those protections are,” Van Pelt said.
“I think he’s made great strides there. We had a blitz period to start practice [Wednesday] against our defense — six plays — and he was 6-for-6 in making decisions and understanding the issues.”
8. Early expectations: “I think I’ll go out there and try to make some plays. I think the biggest thing, I was telling some of those guys, it’s probably going to be a little nervous at the beginning,” Maye said. “I think once we settle down, we have a chance to move the football and just have fun out there. It goes back to having fun going out there.
“That’s what this game is about. Don’t make it too big, or the spotlight too big. Just go out there with those guys that we’ve been battling for three months since training camp, go out there and try to make some plays.”
The key for Maye making plays on Sunday?
“I think the biggest thing is me playing on time, playing in rhythm, and trusting the guys around me.”
9. Home reds: Maye’s first NFL start will come in the red throwback jerseys, as New England will rock Pat the Patriot for the first time this season. The Patriots have lost their last three games in the throwbacks, with their last win coming in 2022 with another rookie quarterback, Bailey Zappe, making his first career NFL start.
“I think it’ll be pretty sweet in the red throwbacks,” Maye said. “I think that’ll be pretty cool to get out there in my first start, and especially in front of these fans. I think Patriots fans are the best fans in the league, and I’m looking forward to playing at Gillette in front of them.”
10. Setting up the week ahead: Following Maye’s first career start, the rookie and Co. will turn their attention to a matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
New England will follow a normal schedule from Monday through Thursday before traveling overseas on Thursday night. Upon arrival on Friday, they will had right to the practice facility for their final on-field work of the week. Kickoff at Wembley Stadium is then scheduled for Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET.