After wrapping up voluntary OTAs last week, the New England Patriots hit the practice field on Monday for Day 1 of mandatory minicamp.
As has been the case throughout the spring, rookie quarterback Drake Maye was the center of attention. The third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft again served as the No. 2 QB on the depth chart behind veteran Jacoby Brissett. Barring any surprises, that's how it will be when training camp gets underway later this summer.
The Patriots canceled Tuesday's practice for a Community Service day for players and coaches. They will have one final day of mandatory practice on Wednesday before their summer break.
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So, how did Maye fare in his second to last practice before the six-week respite? Our Patriots insiders Phil Perry and Tom E. Curran attended Monday's session in Foxboro and shared their takeaways on a new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.
🔊 Patriots Talk: Patriots minicamp kicks off and Drake Maye keeps impressing | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
"As Phil and I were coming off the field and talking about it, I said, 'I can't tell with these practices if they're good, if they're not good. I have nothing to compare it to.' So when there's a bunch of completions, as there were today because they ran a ton of hurry-up, 11-on-11 and 7-on-7, two-minute drills in which there were penalties... It was a little more high-stakes," Curran said.
"Drake Maye had a good day. Jacoby Brissett remains a better option. He looks as good as, if not better than, Drake Maye, who had his best day."
Perry pointed out that while Maye's development has been encouraging, the offense still has a long way to go.
"There were stretches where it (didn't) look great offensively," he said. "They ran their hurry-up period at the end of practice and basically nobody scored. In six or seven hurry-up drives, I think we saw one made field goal. I don't think anybody got in the end zone. So, that's one thing that I do think I can take away from this is the defense is still the Patriots defense, which is still pretty damn good and there's just not a lot of space to operate. Offensively, I think we all still need a little time to wrap our arms around it."
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Perry came away from Monday's practice more impressed than Curran with Maye's performance.
"One thing I disagree with you slightly on: I think Drake Maye was the best quarterback on the field today," he said. "I think he can do some things that it started to become clear that Jacoby Brissett isn't going to be doing.
"(Brissett's) going to be more clean and he understands definitely better what's going on, but if you were to drop in from Mars today and watch, you wouldn't know that Jacoby Brissett knows the offense better than Drake Maye because there were not a lot of moments where it was like, 'Oh, the rookie clearly didn't know what to do there.'"
You can hear of Curran and Perry's takeaways in the full podcast episode.
Quotes of note
Veteran center David Andrews told reporters, including our Phil Perry, he hopes to finish his career in New England "the right way."
Brissett spoke highly of Maye's development.
"Every day he's gotten better," Brissett told reporters. "The good thing about it is, it's not like, 'Oh, I got it right now, and I'm not thinking about it.' He's just constantly trying to find ways to get better, making some nice throws out there and you're seeing his progression come alive."
Running back Rhamondre Stevenson revealed he and the Patriots are "close" on a contract extension.