FOXBORO — Drake Maye is fighting against time as much as he’s battling Jacoby Brissett in the Patriots’ ongoing quarterback competition.
Maye still isn’t taking any definitive first-team reps in the final days of Patriots training camp practices, but he’s begun taking snaps with starting offensive linemen over the last two days and has played better than Brissett since Thursday’s preseason loss to the Eagles.
Maye was 10-of-15 overall in team drills, 5-of-6 in 11-on-11s and 5-of-9 in 7-on-7 drills. Brissett, meanwhile, was 10-of-19 overall, 6-of-11 in 11-on-11s and 4-of-8 in 7-on-7s.
Wide receiver K.J Osborn, who high-pointed a catch on a corner route over cornerback Marcus Jones on a throw from Maye, sees the rookie QB “definitely progressing.”
“Drake has a different type of confidence and leadership. He’s a rookie, so he’s still learning, but he’s also a quarterback and a really smart guy. His locker is next to me and (Brissett), so he’s asking questions, or we’ll talk or he’ll come up to the side and we’ll talk about stuff.”
The Patriots have one more “training camp” practice on Monday before a day off on Tuesday. The team will use practices Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as prep for their preseason finale against the Commanders on Sunday, mimicking a regular week of practice.
The Patriots should have their starting quarterback competition settled after the third and final preseason game, if not earlier. The Raiders announced their Week 1 starting quarterback on Sunday.
Brissett still looks like the odds-on favorite to start against the Bengals three weeks away in Week 1 of the regular season, but there’s nothing set in stone, and the veteran hasn’t run away with the competition just yet.
Brissett was just 3-of-7 for 17 yards with a red-zone interception that head coach Jerod Mayo called a “terrible play” in Thursday’s preseason game. Brissett was 9-of-13 in Saturday’s non-padded practice while Maye was 11-of-13.
Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf was complimentary of Maye’s performance on Thursday, in particular.
“Drake’s very conscientious,” Wolf said Sunday before practice. “He takes all the coaching points. He’s trying to do everything perfect. It was really nice to see him the other night go out there and just play ball rather than think about those things.”
Brissett started Sunday’s red-zone 7-on-7s going 0-of-4 with a coverage sack, but he wasn’t getting much help from his receivers, who weren’t getting open.
Maye went 3-of-5 with completions to Osborn and wide receivers Tyquan Thornton and Javon Baker. He was incomplete to Baker on a fade and threw the ball away on another rep.
The Patriots then brought over linemen for red-zone 11-on-11s. Brissett was 1-of-2, while Maye went 2-of-3 with completions to rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk and rookie tight end Jaheim Bell.
Backups Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton III, seemingly still competing for the No. 3 job, both completed one pass. Milton also had an incompletion to Baker.
Brissett improved in his next 7-on-7 set, going 4-of-4 with completions to wide receivers DeMario Douglas, Jalen Reagor, Osborn and Polk. His completion to Polk was a leaping grab downfield on the sideline. Maye was 2-of-4 with completions to Douglas and wide receiver Kayshon Boutte. His two incompletions were deeper targets to Baker and Boutte that were broken up by cornerbacks Alex Austin and Marcellas Dial.
The Patriots ran through three more turns of 11-on-11 drills. Brissett was 1-of-1 in the first turn with a completion to Douglas, while Maye took a sack in his only dropback. Milton completed his only attempt downfield to wide receiver Kawaan Baker, who caught the ball over Dial’s helmet on an underthrown go route.
Brissett then went 1-of-1 with two sacks in his next turn, while Maye was 3-of-3 with the sideline completion to Osborn and two more catches by Boutte and Douglas.
Brissett finished things off with an 11-play drive with four handoffs. He was 3-of-7 with two throwaways. He also threw high to Douglas and had a pass intended for Polk broken up by Austin. His completions were to Polk (two) and Thornton.
Wolf wouldn’t decisively answer when asked how close Maye is to playing.
“We’ll have to see,” he answered. “Again, he didn’t get a lot of snaps … in the first game. He did pretty well in his snaps the other night. It’s all about building on those successes and seeing where it goes.”
Mayo said Friday that he wants the entire offense to continue to jell, which means playing in Sunday’s preseason game against the Commanders. That should give Maye perhaps one last chance to prove he deserves to start Week 1. If he can’t continue to push the issue, then it will be Brissett under center against the Bengals.
