FOXBOROUGH - Look, I have no idea if the Drake Maye-to-A.J. Brown connection is going to rival what Joe Burrow has with Ja’Marr Chase or what Matthew Stafford enjoys with Puka Nacua or Davante Adams. Still, if the last couple of practices are any indication, reports of their early camp struggles may be a mere footnote in what has the potential to be a successful season.
After completing four-of-five tosses to Brown on Thursday, Maye and his new number one receiver hooked up three more times on Friday, including their first deep ball connection. It came against a blitzing Patriot defense, with Kevin Byard running free toward the quarterback (sidenote: there was a little too much of that in day two of padded practices). Brown, working on the outside against Christian Gonzalez, patiently delivered a stop-and-go move, leaving Gonzalez in his wake. Maye easily lofted a high, arcing throw for what would have been a 50-or-so-yard touchdown. You wanted fireworks with these two, and they are starting to come.
“Just giving more chances to him,” Maye said post-practice of what’s led to more success throwing to Brown. “I think you see with the ball in his hands what he can do. So just finding more chances intermediate, short, deep, just not shying away from him. I’m not going to shy away from it. That’s how I play. I’m going to keep going at it, and it could be the fifth play in a row; I’m going to give him the rock.”
That is no doubt music to Brown’s ears. His on- and off-field relationship with Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia soured. Here, he has a clean slate with one of the best young passers in football, and the two are spending a ton of time working on their game, not just physically during practice, but on the sidelines when they watch the 2s and 3s compete. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many times I’ve spotted the duo conversing.
“I think just trying to get a feel for what he’s seeing, what I’m seeing, what he’s kind of feeling out there when he’s running routes in coverage,” Maye said. “We got some great competition. Him and Gonzo are going back and forth and going at it, so it’s great for us to talk and pull up some old things that he’s run and how he liked to run them and what he liked to do in the routes and kind of different looks.”
In the era of live-tweeting practices, these sessions carry far greater weight daily than they should (one good or bad day shouldn’t influence the overall body of work this summer). It’s about trying to get as complete a picture as you can over the next handful of weeks, until we get into the regular season. Then, those weekly one-offs (we call them games, Mike) are critical because there are only 17 scheduled. That’s why Maye isn’t putting any pressure on himself and Brown (and Romeo Doubs as well) to be perfect at the end of July, or even putting a timetable on that growth and connectivity.
“I don’t think you try to look that much into it,” he told me. “I mean, you feel like you know when things are clicking. I feel like we had some good plays today - He’s (A.J. Brown) a force in this league, he’s been a force in this league, and I know we have a lot of players that make plays. That is the best thing about offense like Coach McDaniels (says), “It can be anybody any given day,” and that is what the story was last year. I feel like that is what we are trying to repeat and just have a little bit more juice and a little bit more swagger to us.”
Several defenders have noted that the offense, in particular the wide receiver group, loves to talk their “ish” (that was how linebacker Chad Muma politely described the banter with the defense during competitive periods). Maye isn’t a big yapper, but the way he’s carrying himself versus how it looked a year ago at this time is like night and day.
Even after a couple of inconsistent throwing performances, Maye didn’t worry or press. He just kept dealing, and over the last two sessions, very few throws have fallen incomplete. Beyond the long strike to Brown in team period, he found Hunter Henry in the back left corner of the end zone during a competitive red zone period, putting the ball far enough in front of the tight end that safety Craig Woodson had no play on the ball. Henry had to use one hand to bring that back to his body (and did), but that was a clear example of Maye giving his guy, and only his guy, a chance.
Maye did that in 7-on-7 work as well, dropping a ball into the bucket for Doubs, with Gonzalez in his hip pocket. I didn’t view that part of practice as full-go, but on that rep, with that receiver and corner, it was. Doubs celebrated accordingly.
“You try to find a rhythm and try to find - I feel like being accurate is one of the number one things of playing quarterback and putting the ball in the right spot and giving our guys chances, and that is what I’m doing, and our guys are making plays,” Maye said, adding “I think the biggest thing for us is to stay positive plays, and includes run game, passing game and - for me - it is getting started early. It’s like when I used to play basketball and used to come out and try to shoot a three, get a layup, get to the free throw line, and then - but at the same time - I love taking a shot early, so trying to balance that.”
Maye struck that balance well last year, and with him and Brown finding their footing, more could be in the offing in 2026-27.