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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL draft, has made a favorable impression on offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt in his first month with the team.
“He’s been impressive,” Van Pelt said Tuesday prior to the team’s voluntary practice in which Maye took snaps as the top backup after having previously been the No. 3 option.
When the Patriots ultimately will turn to Maye as their starter is one of the top storylines for a team coming off a 4-13 season and led by a new regime under first-year head coach Jerod Mayo.
Van Pelt, in his first year as offensive coordinator, is stressing patience.
“I think of it as a marathon over a sprint. You just don’t go out and run a marathon. You have to train properly for a marathon. It’s the same with a quarterback,” he said, when asked the key tenets of developing a rookie at the position.
“There’s a process. We follow that process. We trust that process. You can’t just stick a guy out there and expect him to be successful without the proper training. We’re making moves in the right direction.”
Specifically, Van Pelt said Maye has quickly adapted to the footwork changes coaches have taught him, allowing him to play more in rhythm. Van Pelt added that there is ongoing work calling plays from the huddle, which is an adjustment for many college players, especially with the length of some Patriots play calls, which can include as many as 14 words.
Van Pelt reiterated that veteran Jacoby Brissett remains the team’s starter, saying he has had an “exceptional spring” by showing “great command of the offense” while also taking Maye and fellow rookie quarterback Joe Milton under his wing.
Asked if there is a timetable for when Maye might elevate to the No. 1 role, Van Pelt said: “I think you have to take that as it comes. There is no timetable. Jacoby, again, is our starter and he’s playing excellent football for us in the spring. And Drake is coming on. So until that changes, we’re going to stick with what we got.
“We always talk about earning your reps around here. So as he continues to grow and have successful practices and start stacking those, then we can think about moving him up the depth chart. It’s a process. It’s a marathon. We’re going to take our time and do it the right way.”
Van Pelt added that a “combination of a couple things” will factor into the decision, with executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and Mayo among those primarily involved.
In the first two weeks of voluntary organized team activities, third-year quarterback Bailey Zappe had been the No. 2 option behind Brissett in the practices attended by reporters. That changed Tuesday in a practice that featured a majority of work inside the 5-yard line.
“Me and Jacoby and Bailey, we’re battling. Mixing up who goes with who each day. It’s not necessarily ‘Hey, you’re going first, you’re going second.’ Jacoby is getting first and from there we’re just playing it by ear,” Maye said. “Obviously it matters how you do when you’re in there.”
Maye threw one red zone interception Tuesday on a play in which he and running back Antonio Gibson appeared to have a miscommunication. Safety Kyle Dugger dove to intercept a short Maye pass as Gibson stopped his route, with Maye seemingly having expected Gibson to continue cutting across the field.
And in a different drill outside of the red zone, Maye overthrew a pass to veteran receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster that was easily intercepted by undrafted rookie cornerback Kaleb Ford-Dement.
Maye later said there were a few throws he would have liked to have back and that he planned to learn from them.
“He’s headed in the right direction,” Mayo said. “A lot of times people think it’s this longitudinal, straight line up to the top, and realistically it’s up and down, up and down, up and down. He’s doing well.”