FOXBOROUGH - Now that was more like it. One week after a curious decision to allow Drake Maye only six official snaps in the preseason opener - no, I will not get over it - the Patriots braintrust let the 21-year-old play ball Thursday night against the Eagles. It was far from perfect, but in many ways, it was exactly what the kid needed: experience, even if it did come against Philly's backups.
"I think every time you get out there, I think (you) kind of get more and more confident," said Maye, adding, "I think the more reps, I think it's only gonna help me."
Here's the other thing that Maye showed, that he's not made of paper mache. He got smacked on his last play of the night - about that, Vederian Lowe and Kevin Harris - but he got up and trotted over to the sideline. He was not physically broken - mentally either - and now there's a lesson to learn in Friday's film session. Plus, there was a calmness to his game, a composure that if you watched him at North Carolina, you would say, "Hey, there's that guy."
"One of the reasons we drafted Drake was, through the interview process, you could kind of tell this was an even-keeled guy," said Jerod Mayo postgame. "I think you guys can probably see it from the stands. This guy doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low. He was like that in college. He was probably like that as a kid. He remains that way now, which is good for a quarterback. Those guys, they have to maintain their composure and get the call to the huddle and get those guys out of the huddle, get them ready to go. He's always been like that in my mind."
Maye's best throw Thursday night was an absolute dime to Javon Baker, covering 54 air yards (third series). Baker had the ball dropped right into his extended arms but couldn't complete the catch as he hit the ground. Turns out Gisele was right: a quarterback cannot throw and catch the ball himself. On that play - that goes down as an incomplete, Maye's pocket presence mattered as much as the arm strength and accuracy. The kid felt pressure up the gut, slid left, kept his eyes down the field, and then let it rip. More of that, please.
As I mentioned, it wasn't perfect for Maye. On his opening series, he bailed early on his first pass attempt, though he did turn it into a six-yard gain. His next drop-back was a good one. Maye fired a dart to Javon Baker on an in-cut versus man-to-man, waiting for the rookie to clear the linebacker. According to the broadcast, that was the QB's third read, so he worked from right to left, processing the coverage and finding the open man on third-and-five for a first down.
"They rolled down to safety and took away options," said Maye of that play. "And (I) feel like coming back backside had an in cut that - yeah, I missed in practice this week, that probably could have thrown - so, like I said, just learn from practice. Try to translate it to the game."
The yin-and-yang continued on that drive. Maye had Nolan Smith in his face off play action but flipped his hips and delivered a ball in the flat to Mitchell Wilcox for a completion. That wasn't overthinking or being robotic, which has been the case in a lot of team periods in camp. That was being an athlete - he's a good one - and letting your talent take over.
His next pass was sloppy, a high throw in the flat that only ended up as a positive because Kayshon Boutte bailed him out with a one-handed catch. The footwork was unsettled there, and the ball came out of Maye's hand wobbly. He might have had his first deep completion on third down, lofting a well-placed go route to Baker along the sideline. The only problem? Baker was bullied by cornerback Kelee Ringo, not once but twice, and was out of bounds before returning to the field of play. That's a no-go.
In the second series, Maye's feet and some indecision were at fault on a misfire to Baker on a stop, but he rebounded by scoring four plays later, using his legs on a zone read to waltz into the end zone from four yards out. He had a lead blocker, which didn't hurt, but Maye read the defensive end crashing down and scooted through that area.
"Happy to get into the end zone," said Maye. "Happy to score points."
He was so happy he forgot to keep the football, but fear not — the ace equipment recovered it for him, and he'll remember the moment.
And then there was that fourth and final series. That felt more like what we saw during Tuesday's joint practice, which is to say, messy. There was a wise throwaway after being flushed from the pocket, an overthrow of Baker along the sideline that turned out okay because of defensive pass interference, and another throwaway - though in this case, Maye realized at the top of his three-step drop that the slant he wanted on the right side wasn't there, and instead of running around like a maniac, bailed out his offensive line. What followed was a completion for no gain to Ja'Lynn Polk and then the sack, where Smith hit Maye and hit him good. Overall, plenty to like and plenty to work at.
"I think (there's) things I can clean up," Maye said. "I had some good things, had some bad plays. Dropped snaps. You know, inexcusable for me...sometimes scrambling when I can probably sit in there and hang on and try to make a throw. So definitely, a lot of things to learn from."
I can't quibble with that. Maye is young and raw, but there's a reason why he went third overall. For the first time, fans of this football team got to see him run around a bit, play ball like he knows he can, and show a little of what the Pats think he's capable of. It didn't move the needle in a non-existent quarterback battle, but it does reinforce the notion that all is not lost in the rookie's 2024-25 season.