The Drake Maye Report: Bags pile up for rookie QB on physical 10th originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO – Monday was Patriots’ most physical workout of the summer. They wore full face shields in heat that reached over 90 degrees. They fell to the ground sometimes. They spent a period executing goal situations with full contact.
The action could have been described as violent at times. Late in the session, safety AJ Thomas blew up wide receiver JaQuae Jackson on a pass over the middle. Jackson held on, but met with trainers shortly after being violently shot in the stomach.
Practice like this is useful, of course, for measuring play in the trenches. It is useful when trying to check short yardage effectiveness for both offense and defense. And if you want to assess players’ stamina quotients, this is the practice for you.
It wasn’t the friendliest circumstance for quarterback evaluation, with much of the focus going to the run game, but that’s what we’ll do here anyway on Day 10’s Drake Maye Report.
The representative’s report
In 11-on-11 work, Jacoby Brissett performed 22 competitive reps. Drake Maye, meanwhile, had 21. (Some of those reps featured only half of the line’s defense rushing the passer, perhaps in an effort to limit the workload of some of the big bodies at the line of scrimmage.)
Analyzing the numbers
Maye finished his competitive reps 4-of-7 with four sacks and two snaps that resulted in scrambles.
The bag number there is glaring. The Patriots defense worked throughout practice on plays and stunts at the line of scrimmage. Despite seeing these looks many times, the second unit offensive line had difficulty blocking them.
Of the four sacks on the day, three came thanks to maneuvers on the defensive line. The fourth was credited to Davon Godchaux after he passed Caedan Wallace and forced the rookie tackle’s back into the rookie quarterback.
Jacoby Brissett was 10-for-13 with an interception. The pick wasn’t Brissett’s fault, as he hit his defender for a touchdown in the goal-line session. Kyle Dugger dropped the ball and Ja’Whaun Bentley intercepted it. Brissett continues to be the best defender in every practice and once again took all the first-team reps.
Play of the day
Maye showed off his athleticism early in the practice, scrambling for a fourth-down touchdown, which came after a helpful third-down completion to running back JaMycal Hasty.
His best move of the day, however, was not completed. He relayed to KJ Osborn that it looked like he should have been caught with Osborn stepping behind the defense. The wideout appeared to have trouble tracking the ball and slowed down before it arrived. He landed just beyond his reach on an incompletion.
Why is he ready
In this section of the Drake Maye Report, we’ll highlight the parts of the rookie’s performance that suggest he’s primed to step up to the top of the quarterback pecking order in New England sooner rather than later.
Maye’s ability to get out of trouble and gain yards with his legs could help him establish himself as a useful and cautious quarterback in his rookie season.
Quarterback contests, in terms of advanced metrics like EPA, are among the most efficient plays in football. His two fights on Monday would have been two of the best runs of the day in a run game-heavy workout.
Why patience is a virtue
In this section of the Drake Maye Report, we’ll highlight the parts of the rookie’s performance that suggest he’s not yet ready to top the quarterback depth chart.
The Patriots may be forced to wait and see on Maye’s readiness simply because they aren’t getting a good feel for how he might operate in the pocket. While the first unit’s offensive line has helped well in recent practices, the same cannot be said for the second unit.
With some injuries at tackle, Maye had Wallace, undrafted rookie Zuri Henry and newly signed (August 2) Kellen Diesch blocking for him on the edge. Plays that end in sacks often end with a defender standing in Maye’s face as he attempts a shot. One on Monday was deflected by tight end Jacob Warren and picked off by AJ Thomas, but we didn’t record that as part of the day’s results, just as we didn’t record completions made after sacks.
Once those sacks happen, the play is over. And for Maye, too often lately, the piece has ended much sooner than it should have because of shoddy protection.
It will be difficult for Maye to be considered “ready” until he has the opportunity to work with starters, thus giving his coaching staff a better look at what he is capable of.
