History Will Remember This as the Week Drake Maye Got Significant Reps Against an NFL Opponent and Showed How Good He Is

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It's been a topsy-turvy world for the celebrated Quarterback Class of 2024. One minute you're impressing the pleated khakis off all the scouts:

And the next, you're undergoing meniscus surgery:

… and setting your development back a year. 

Such is the nature of life for a rookie QB. Especially a highly-drafted one. You come into the league with a lot to learn and a short time to learn it. 

Which is why I, for one, have been bellyaching about the lack of snaps my highly-drafted rookie got in his one preseason game. A number which was reflected in those measly 19 passing yards:

But things change quickly in training camp. They can go as sideways on you as they did for JJ McCarthy, or you can get a legitimate chance to show what you're capable of, like Maye did against Philly's defense in joint practices. Despite not getting any help from the second-stringers you've been lining up with:

Patriots.com -  Maye started practice a perfect 9-for-9 in 7-on-7s and full-team drills. The third-overall pick connected downfield twice with fourth-round rookie WR Javon Baker, including a pretty deep ball on a go route early in the session.

That's the good news. The bad news reflects not so much on Maye, but on the general chaos of a cobbled-together offense still trying to figure out what it is. With three sacks on one set of downs, bringing the team's unofficial total to 14 on the day. And that wasn't the half of it:

[T]he offense was also called for nine penalties by the refs on hand, had two bad snaps, and had a botched exchange on a run play. …

 

However, things started to get shaky when the offense moved into the red zone for more 11-on-11 work. In the red-zone sequence, Maye couldn't connect with WR Ja'Lynn Polk on a slot fade, had a screen blown up in the backfield, and then Baker couldn't keep his feet in bounds running the back of the end zone after Maye avoided some pressure.

 

When the offense moved back into the middle of the field, there was more pressure and penalties on the Patriots. Maye's two-minute drill went like this: sack by Nolan Smith, a team sack, incomplete on a covered comebacker to Boutte, and a sack by LB Nakobe Dean on fourth down. Maye took responsibility for the shaky hurry-up offense, but it was a team-wide failure.

So overall it's far, far from anything Pats players and coaches signed up for. Or that fans who turned out in peak Dynasty-sized numbers on a midweek day to watch a practice are looking for while they're still PTSD from watching them finish last in the league in points. 

But Training Camp 2024 isn't about sacks, penalties, bad snaps, botched exchanges, blown up screen passes or receivers getting their feet down. It's really not even about 2024. It's about getting Drake Maye ready to face better competition than he saw against Syracuse, Duke, Clemson, or NC State. The rest of the stuff has to be cleaned up, for sure. Especially the pass protection, or Eliot Wolf will spend all season searching the waiver wire for other teams' castoffs like a losing army throwing old men and teenage boys into uniforms that don't fit them. 

But the only priority is Maye. The Prime Directive is to get him established in the league to the point you can build around him in 2025 and beyond. And the first time he got more than a half dozen chances against the defense of a Super Bowl contender, he went 9-for-9, hit one of his key rookie wideouts deep, escaped the pocket to throw an accurate pass into the end zone, and demonstrated he can handle this level of competition. 

Perhaps more importantly, he took responsibility for the mistakes he was not responsible for. Which the great ones do. And in doing so, helped prove Mr. Kraft was right when he talked about Maye's "values," "fundamentals" and "foundation." 

Of course like anyone else, I'm worried about putting him under center behind an O-line that was so thoroughly incapable of pass protection when they play the Eagles for (not) real Thursday night. Having what happened to McCarthy happen to Maye would throw wooden shoes into the gears of the Patriots entire plan to get back to respectability. But they can't keep him on the sidelines again like they did last week and expect to flatten out his learning curve. Now's the time to prove to the world Drake Maye is going to be ready, and soon. 

Especially to Drake Maye. This was just the beginning of his ascent into Franchise QB status. Mark my words.