What Patriots’ Drake Maye Learned From Mimicking NFL Stars In Practice

FOXBORO, Mass. — Drake Maye mimicked some of the league’s best quarterbacks when he helped the New England Patriots prepare for their first five games of the season.

Maye received 30% of first-team reps during Patriots practices and also ran the scout team offense. New England’s recently named starting QB mirrored Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow, Seattle Seahawks’ Geno Smith, New York Jets’ Aaron Rodgers, San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy and, well, Miami Dolphins third-stringer Tyler Huntley.

“I think the timing they play with, and the routes,” Maye responded when asked if he learned any lessons from those practice sessions. “I think our defensive coaches speak on that, the rhythm, the timing of ‘Hey, this ball is thrown before the look-in,’ anticipation, and throwing guys open. I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve tried to take in the new scout team. Trying to throw guys open, and throw a ball that I may not have had in my life before if I see something. I think that’s the biggest thing.

“On the scout team, we’ve repped some pretty good quarterbacks and some fun offenses to throw the football in on scout. It’s been cool to see how similar the offenses are, some stuff that we have, and some stuff they do differently. It’s been pretty cool.”

Maye won’t be leading the scout team as the Patriots prepare to face the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon. That’s because the first-round rookie will replace veteran Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback of the Patriots, and thus go against New England’s scout team defense.

Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo made the decision because he believes Maye gives the team the best chance to win both now and going forward. Mayo came to that conclusion after an impressive training camp and preseason from Maye, and the first-year head coach said Maye’s progress has not slowed down the last five weeks.

Maye might have his reps on the scout team to thank for that.