Patriots Fans, Don’t Overreact To Drake Maye’s OTA Struggles

It’s natural for Patriots fans to worry about Drake Maye, but this month is not the time to do it.

New England held its second organized team activity of the spring, but Tuesday’s practice was open to the media. That meant analysts got to see how Maye was developing under new head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. The results weren’t great.

Maye reportedly threw four interceptions, two of which were by Christian Gonzalez. The second-year quarterback was criticized for his turnovers last season, and Tuesday added more fuel to that fire. But let’s be real, this was way too early to sound the alarms.

This was a non-padded practice, and what happens in OTAs is not indicative of what will happen in training camp or when the season starts. In fact, this is the time of the offseason when it’s OK to make mistakes. Maye is still acclimating to McDaniels’ offseason, so there will be growing pains. But the quarterback has been a fast learner.

“I think he’s acclimating great,” Hunter Henry told reporters, per MassLive’s Karen Guregian “It’s a lot. And it’s really early. It’s only May, man. We just got together a month ago and put this all in. So there’s a lot thrown at the wall right now that we’re trying to make stick.”

The struggles earned headlines, but there were also flashes of brilliance from Maye. He threw a pinpoint back-shoulder pass to Javon Baker on Gonzalez, and he connected with Kyle Williams on a deep ball, per 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Alex Barth.

It’s understandable why Patriots fans might feel starved of news and content. But they just need to be patient and let Maye make mistakes early in the offseason so he can learn from them in the future.