t’s late May, and at this point, nothing counts as far as what happens on the field. Players are kicking off the winter/spring rust, getting acclimated to new teammates, and getting acclimated to new systems. All of that is happening for Patriots quarterback Drake Maye in Foxborough these least two days.
There’s no reason to be concerned about the second-year QB, whose talent and presence on the Patriots roster inspired the team to spend heavily in free agency this offseason and helped nudge coach Mike Vrabel to return to New England. Maye was the No. 3 overall pick last year, and showed flashes in an otherwise miserable year of being a franchise guy.
And while no one will, down the line, remember what happened at Patriots OTAs in the past week, it still would be comforting if Maye would, at least, have himself a good day at OTAs. Last week, he drew headlines for throwing four interceptions when the workouts opened. He’s been wholly uninspiring since.
Drake Maye Improving
Vrabel, certainly, has noticed. While there has been concern that maybe Maye and new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels are not compatible, Vrabel pointed out that a bad start does not make a season.
But he also pointed out that there are only so many practices available in a season.
“Well, I care. I care about every player’s performance and that we continue to improve,” Vrabel said, via MassLive. “There has been great improvement. Everybody’s going to have a bad day. There’s a lot of reasons that go into it. We’re not going to analyze every single practice and have explanations for things that came up. The command, the operation, all those things have continued to improve.
“I don’t know who asked me about what I thought would be a successful day. Sure enough, I told you those things weren’t going to happen. Hopefully, the operation, the communication today, and the execution has got to be better. We only have so many of these opportunities. I’m hopeful that in front of us, the media, that we have a better day.”
Patriots Defense Has Been Sharp
Maye played in 13 games and started 12 last year, throwing for 175.1 yards per game and an 88.1 quarterback rating. While he looked impressive despite playing for a bad team, and looked the part of a quality NFL quarterback, the end result of Maye’s 12 starts was a 3-9 record, and 15 touchdowns to go with 10 interceptions.
A lot of the confidence in Maye is a matter of faith more than results.
Maye is still only 22 and will need some leeway for development, despite his promise and the money the Patriots have spent. It’s important to remember that. though other rookie QBs had quick success last year, Maye is a year younger than Caleb Williams, two years younger than Jayden Daniels and three years younger than Bo Nix.
In all, Maye has gone 20-for-33 passing this spring. That’s 61%. Vrabel gave credit, too, to the defense.
“This is hard. This is a hard time in the spring when every pass play is third-and-10. They’re pass rushing, they’re pressuring and they’re blitzing. Which is great,” he said.
