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Patriots Notes: Dissecting what we saw from Drake Maye on Day 1 of OTAs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO — Eliot Wolf made it very clear all the way back at the combine, well before Drake Maye or anyone else was drafted to New England, well before any free agents were signed. He knew what his team-building philosophy would be, and how it would differ from Bill Belichick’s.
“I think there’s going to be a little bit more reliance on playing young players,” Wolf said at the time. “I think it’s really important in today’s football to be able to play young players and develop from within.”
Draft and develop. Draft and develop. That was the drumbeat of the Patriots offseason.
Why, then, at the first Organized Team Activity practice of the spring was Maye looking like the third-string quarterback?
The 21-year-old from North Carolina took reps behind Jacoby Brissett and Bailey Zappe on Monday, working in ahead of fellow rookie Joe Milton.
Could be a multitude of reasons as to why the No. 3 overall pick would be third up.
Could be that the most efficient way to run practice would be to have the still-learning rookies go third and fourth in the pecking order behind the vets. Could be a nod to the older players that they’ll be given an opportunity to compete for jobs. Could be a message to the young players that they have to earn their stripes.
All would be understandable. Unless and until that type of dispersal of practice reps inhibits Maye’s growth.
At this point, it’s too early to say that things will continue on that way. Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters before the first of 13 OTA workouts that the rep dispersal for quarterbacks would not necessarily be indicative of how things would function moving forward.
“No, that won’t be indicative of what we do,” Mayo explained. “I think it’s a day-by-day thing. You know, you try to keep all those guys around the same rep count. But at the same time, on any given day, this guy could get 30 reps and…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-notes-dissecting-saw-drake-223059175.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-05-20 22:30:59
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