FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In an NFL preseason hungry for rookie quarterback evaluations, Thursday night began for the New England Patriots with the long-awaited debut of No. 3 overall draft pick Drake Maye. By the time it ended, it had morphed into the Joe Milton III Social Media/Talk Radio Bowl.
That’s the best description of what happened for the Patriots, who beat the Carolina Panthers 17-3 in a game that meant nothing unless you were measuring the rush of enthusiasm among the Patriots’ rookie quarterbacks.
If you went into Thursday night measuring this pair, it wouldn’t be much of a contest, largely due to the oddly split reps between that pair. It featured Maye coming in in the wet as the second defender in the game, behind starter Jacoby Brissett, and then throwing three passes in a game series. After that, Maye gave way to Bailey Zappe, who ended up being replaced by Milton with 4:12 left in the third quarter. The rookie sixth-round pick closed out the game for New England with a versatile flourish, flooding social media with highlights.
Viewed through the misleading prism of the first game of any preseason, when things are typically never as good or bad as they seem, the disparity is rational. Maye’s opportunities were limited to just one series against a mix of the Panthers’ first- and second-string defense. On the other hand, Milton has conceded two scoring drives, mostly against the Panthers, who will either fill out the depth chart or struggle to make the team. For both players, it was not a realistic measure. But for at least one of the two – Milton – there was no denying that he electrified the offense and made the most of what he had to work with, completing 4 of 6 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. Milton also had two impressive runs, including a 13-yard run for a first down that saw him extend the play by more than 15 seconds as he reversed field and drove through the defense.
Overall, it was impressive enough to earn some praise from head coach Jerod Mayo, who pointed directly to Milton when asked if anyone performed above his expectations.
“I need to go back and watch the movie, [but] the easy answer would be Joe,” Mayo said. “Joe went out there and — I don’t think we’ve ever seen a quarterback here run as hard as he did and still be able to get the ball down the field. He’s one of those guys. It was good.”
“The coaches, the staff itself, they’ve worked really hard to get us where we need to be, especially at the quarterback position,” Milton said. “THE [offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt] and [quarterbacks coach] T. C. McCarthy and [offensive assistant] Ben McAdoo, they put a lot of effort into getting the details right, your eyes will match your feet and being able to go where your feet tell you. And if it’s not there, being able to move on.”
In some ways, the game presented a dynamic about the Patriots’ training camp that has existed for weeks around its two quarterbacks. Much was expected of Maye’s arrival, only to see him arrive a little later in his development than expected. And as is often the case in a defender-hungry camp, this was compared to Milton, who was seen as the development project armed with cannons, but who impressed with far fewer expectations. The result has been strong external attention, with media excitement and fan enthusiasm growing towards Milton and debating how he is measuring up against Maye. After Thursday, this will no doubt be trending in the Patriots media market, with social media already turning into a hornet’s nest of discussions about the two players.
However, the perception of none of the players is legitimate when it comes to predicting where each one is headed. Maye got more quality snaps than Milton in camp, and there has to be some suspicion that his only series in the first preseason game was an act of preservation on the part of a team looking to keep him healthy in a meaningless game . The flip side of this is that Milton’s copious reps to close out the game can be inferred as a byproduct of the coaching staff trying to give a developing player as much time as possible to prepare.
But there’s a fine line of perception when it comes to the game, and there’s no denying that Milton looked calm and collected in his photos. His exceptional arm strength was evident, especially on a 38-yard touchdown pass to JaQuae Jackson that made his defender bite on an out-and-up route for an open touchdown. Milton was also patient enough on the play to read both outside routes, first right and then left, showing the type of patience and processing that will earn him team points.
Maye’s only series was anything but exceptional, coming in fog and rainy weather, featuring a pair of short passes on a shot that was put into an early hole by a false start.
“I thought the guys did a great job, they brought energy – that was the most important thing with the rain and the weather in the first half,” Maye said. “…This is what the preseason [is] to, just make guys make plays. It’s a lot of fun to join your teammates. For me, I kind of had an idea of how much I was going to play tonight. [I just tried to] I went in there and tried to take care of the football and execute.”
In terms of opportunities, Maye said he doesn’t know what the plan is for the Patriots’ next game against the Philadelphia Eagles. But Mayo suggested two things Thursday: With the Patriots facing the Eagles in joint practices before next week’s game, he sees it as an important point in the preseason; and the division of opportunities for defenders will be fluid moving up the entire depth chart.
“Next week we have the Eagles, so we’ll be practicing a lot more against them and who knows, the reps will probably change a little bit,” Mayo said. “Then we’ll see what happens in the game.”
