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The New England Patriots enter their season finale holding the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. A loss to the Buffalo Bills\u2019 backups on Sunday would lock them into that selection.<\/p>\n
For the Patriots, however, they are operating the week with a winning mindset \u2014 meaning starting quarterback Drake Maye is set to open the game behind center.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrake looked good yesterday. He\u2019s ready to go,\u201d offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said Thursday. \u201cHe\u2019ll be starting the game, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if Maye will play the entirety of Sunday\u2019s game, Van Pelt responded, \u201cWe\u2019re playing the game to win the game, for sure. We\u2019ll see how it goes from that point, but yes, that\u2019s the intent.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Maye\u2019s day does end prematurely, however, the door could be open for fellow rookie quarterback Joe Milton III to see his first game-action this season. The sixth-round pick has spent the previous 17 weeks as the team\u2019s emergency third quarterback, meaning he can\u2019t enter the game unless Maye and backup Jacoby Brissett left the game due to injury.<\/p>\n
The 24-year old has received plenty of praise for his work on the practice fields running the scout team throughout the season. Milton\u2019s practice workload then saw a change on Wednesday as he saw his first reps with the starting offense mixing in with Maye, who appeared on the Patriots\u2019 Wednesday injury report with a right hand injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s done a great job all year,\u201d Van Pelt said of Milton. \u201cThe stuff that he does on scout team has been impressive. His ability to throw the ball. You know, he\u2019s an elite passer in that regard. We\u2019ll see. We have all three guys ready to go. We\u2019ll make that decision later in the week, but if he does get in there, I\u2019m excited to see what he can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Selected 193rd overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, Milton has not taken any live snaps since the preseason, where he completed 11-of-30 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown to pair with 54 yards on the ground.<\/p>\n
The big-armed quarterback is the lone offensive rookie not to play a snap this season. With one game left in the season, New England may feel it\u2019s best to get a live game look at the quarterback, especially with Brissett slated to hit unrestricted free agency this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Milton could see his first regular season action in Week 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n