FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots’ opening practice of minicamp revealed an offense that is very much a work in progress, which should be the expectation with a new coaching staff and a transition at quarterback.
Veteran Jacoby Brissett maintained his starting role with rookie Drake Maye consistently working as the backup. Those titles aren’t cemented for the upcoming season, but there’s logic behind the pecking order. Similarly, Bailey Zappe appears to have a loose hold for the third job over rookie Joe Milton, but don’t write down the depth chart in pen just yet.
Here’s a rundown of everything we saw Monday during practice and what it all means before the Patriots break for the spring by the end of the week.
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Jacoby Brissett
Brissett completed 15-of-26 passes in team drills, including 9-of-16 in 11-on-11s. He was burned by two drops, while three of his passes were broken up by defenders.
He led off all five team periods, which featured three 11-on-11s and two seven-on-sevens. While Brissett would understandably be the readiest QB to start a regular-season game right now, don’t overlook another important factor. It’s a new offense — one in which he has experience — and it’s important for every player to get quality reps at practice.
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If Brissett can run the plays in a timely manner — the correct cadence and checks at the line of scrimmage, delivering the ball to the correct place, going through the necessary progressions and keeping everyone else where they need to be — the Patriots will get more out of these practices as opposed to Maye learning on the fly and making mistakes that wouldn’t ordinarily deter a veteran. We’ll get to plenty of Maye in the next section, but it’s clear right now which QB is better suited to help the team run the offense most efficiently.
That said, Brissett was far from perfect Monday.
He went 5-of-7 in the first 11-on-11 period. His first pass was dropped by Tyquan Thornton, which probably didn’t sit well with another No. 11, Julian Edelman, who was watching from the sideline.
This was a full-field period with the goal of running the offense and trying to score a touchdown in a traditional situation (not hurry-up). Brissett then hit K.J. Osborn on a comeback route late in his progression, found Jalen Reagor on a drag route and Antonio Gibson on a screen, though it was quickly blown up by linebacker Joe Giles-Harris.
Brissett next misfired to Osborn, but the play would have resulted in a Deatrich Wise Jr. sack if it were fully live. After a swing pass to running back Rhamondre Stevenson, Brissett closed the drive with a dart to DeMario Douglas, who did an outstanding job to adjust, leap and stretch his hands in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Douglas celebrated with a scream and spike.
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Brissett was an efficient 4-of-4 in the next seven-on-seven period, hitting Austin Hooper, Hunter Henry and JuJu Smith-Schuster on short crossing routes before finding Henry on an intermediate hitch.
Brissett’s next seven-on-seven period was rougher. Starting inside the 10-yard line, he threw a ball out of the end zone on a miscommunication, got a pass to Hooper broken up by cornerback Christian Gonzalez, then sailed a ball to a well-covered Hooper. Brissett rebounded by connecting with rookie wideout Ja’Lynn Polk for a touchdown against Gonzalez on an out route to the right, then to Thornton for another score on an out before missing Thornton with a fade ball that sailed too high.
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Brissett struggled in the subsequent 11-on-11 period, which was a full-field two-minute drill. He opened with a completion to Henry on a hitch but got his next bid for Henry broken up by Jabrill Peppers. Douglas then had a bad drop after cleanly beating cornerback Isaiah Bolden on a slant. Brissett then sailed a ball for Polk and was lucky it wasn’t intercepted after being tipped. His final pass of the period was completed to Douglas on a hitch, but the coaches and officials ruled it a turnover on downs due to a collapsed pocket and sack.
The objective of the final 11-on-11 period was to get in field goal range. Brissett opened with a deep overthrow to Polk after pressure from linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, but he followed with his best throw of the day to Thornton for a first down by the right sideline. His next pass to Henry was broken up by cornerback Azizi Hearn, but he got the Pats into field goal position by hitting Reagor on a slant.
Brissett completed 57.7 percent of his passes Monday. Typically, you want a quarterback to be in the 70-75 percent range in this type of setting. There is absolutely a path for Maye to win the job in training camp if Brissett continues at this rate.
Drake Maye
Maye completed 19-of-25 passes (76 percent), including 12-of-17 in 11-on-11s. He was burned by one drop and had one pass broken up by the defense.
Maye went second in all five team periods. He’s still noticeably deliberate with his progressions, but that’s going to be the case for any rookie quarterback. When he did make decisive reads, he was ripping the ball, which should be encouraging.
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Maye opened the first 11-on-11 period with a crosser to tight end Mitchell Wilcox then checked down to running back Kevin Harris. His third snap was an eye opener, as he noticed the middle of the field part due to man coverage, planted his foot and took off. Maye wound up one-on-one with a safety deep downfield, and it would have been fun to see how that would have played out in live action. Big gain either way.
He then overshot Wilcox on a deep corner route. It was a tough throw, but Wilcox was open, and that’s the type of throw you’d like to see Maye make when everything slows down for him. He then hit running back JaMycal Hasty on a checkdown before delivering a touchdown pass to tight end La’Michael Pettway, who made a great leaping catch over a defender. Maye delivered the ball quickly due to pressure, too.
In the next seven-on-seven period, Maye was late on a completion to tight end Jaheim Bell, checked down to Harris in the left flat then got burned by a Pettway drop on an over route. However, give Maye a slight bonus point on that rep because he appeared to have an open receiver on an under route but quickly recognized a defender shifting in a zone to bait the throw into a potential pick. Maye saw it and progressed to his next read. While the play ended in an incompletion, it could have been much worse if he took the bait on the first read. His last throw connected with Reagor on a hitch.
Maye’s next seven-on-seven period was his best, as he went 4-of-4 from inside the 10-yard line. He hit Reagor for a TD on an out then threw a beauty to Bell in the back of the end zone. Maye arced the pass over a zone defender in the second level, too. It was a low-percentage throw, but Maye made it look easy. He then hit Bell on an out for a TD before closing the period by snapping a touchdown pass to Bell on a post.
Maye finished 5-of-8 in the next 11-on-11 period, though the first checkdown completion to Gibson would have been negated by linebacker Oshane Ximines’ quick sack. Maye next hit Smith-Schuster on a slant, again facing quick pressure. He then missed Reagor after holding it too long, hit Reagor on a drag route and couldn’t connect with Reagor on a longer pass toward the right sideline.
No one was open, so Maye tried to give Reagor a chance, but Reagor’s admirable attempt to leap backward for a one-handed snag didn’t land. Maye finished with a completion to wide receiver Kawaan Baker on a drag route, a quick out route connection with Gibson and an incompletion to nowhere after the coaches ruled a sack. Similar to Brissett’s turn just before him, Maye’s two-minute offense failed to score and ended with a sack.
Maye’s final period opened with a checkdown to Hasty, an incompletion over the middle to Smith-Schuster that was broken up by Bolden, a completion to Polk near the left sideline after stepping up in the pocket to avoid pressure and then a longer completion to Smith-Schuster. However, the last one would have likely resulted in a huge hit from a converging safety.
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Maye had five checkdown completions. And while checkdowns aren’t always a bad play, these were more the result of being too sped up in the pocket. It also didn’t help the cause that there was a lot of pressure with Maye working behind much of a backup offensive line.
Even with Maye adjusting to the speed of the pro game, he was effective Monday and made enough eye-popping plays to feel encouraged about his trajectory. He’ll almost certainly open training camp as Brissett’s backup, but fans should focus more on the middle of August. If he can get into a rhythm by about the third week of camp and stack days together, especially in more competitive practices, the No. 3 overall pick will have a real shot to usurp Brissett.
Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton
Zappe completed 5-of-10 passes with an interception in team drills, including 1-of-4 with the pick in 11-on-11s. He participated in four of the five team periods and went third each time.
Milton finished 3-of-6, and his only work came in the 11-on-11 two-minute period.
Ideally, the Patriots hope to enter the meat of training camp with three quarterbacks. That likely either means they’ll be releasing Zappe or shelving Milton. If the Patriots are convinced Maye has legitimate Year 1 starting potential, that probably means Zappe would be the odd man out. Otherwise, they might believe it’d be more beneficial to roster Zappe as an extra veteran. It wouldn’t make much sense to release Milton before final roster cuts.
The Patriots know what they have in Zappe, and that was evident Monday. He was 3-of-4 with two checkdowns in his first seven-on-seven appearance and can thank Polk for an outstanding leaping catch for his lone completion in the next seven-on-seven period.
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Zappe’s two-minute period lasted all of one play, as safety Kyle Dugger jumped a late pass to Bell and intercepted it. That’s when Milton took over, but he was erratic, as well. Bell made two difficult, contested catches to help Milton right away, but Milton sailed two more incompletions and also had a misfire on a likely sack. Milton did sneak in a beauty of a throw to receiver JaQuae Jackson, who managed to beat Gonzalez for a sliding catch. (Gonzalez was still one of the Patriots’ standouts on the day.)
Zappe’s final period included a sack, a misfire, a checkdown and a deep ball to nowhere that was nearly intercepted by special teamer Brenden Schooler.
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Milton very clearly has a much higher ceiling than Zappe, but the rookie has to do a better job of controlling his throws.
(Photo of Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye: Matt Stone / MediaNews Group / Boston Herald via Getty Images)
