Details emerge on Patriots' plan for Drake Maye

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated suggested before the New England's disheartening 24-3 loss at the New York Jets that it was unlikely rookie quarterback Drake Maye would replace a healthy Jacoby Brissett atop the depth chart for New England's Week 5 home game against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 6. 

For an update shared on Sunday night, Breer shared further details about the team's plan for their rookie signal-caller.

"This won’t be a full-on redshirt year," Breer wrote about New England's plans for Maye. "They’ll be patient. But Maye’s progress has gotten to the point where the expectation is he’ll earn his way onto the field relatively soon, with the one caveat being that the Patriots' offense will have to show (as it did against the Cincinnati Bengals, then didn’t against the Jets) that it can play the way it needs to in order to support a rookie quarterback." 

Specifically, reporters such as Dan Graziano of ESPN have routinely mentioned that a big reason first-year head coach Jerod Mayo started Brissett over Maye is that Mayo didn't want the rookie's confidence to get "shattered" due to playing behind an offensive line that continues to be a liability. Brissett took five sacks in the 21-point loss to the Jets before the Gang Green defense sacked Maye twice in garbage time of that blowout. 

With that said, Maye receiving roughly 30 percent of the first-team reps during practices seemingly has helped him fix certain aspects of his game that needed to be addressed coming off the preseason.

"The area where he’s made his biggest jump is with his footwork, since Maye hadn’t had much training with his feet previously, making that the place where he had the most room to grow," Breer added. "He’s also played better in rhythm, quickened the pace getting through progressions and was getting rid of the ball faster as the summer transitioned to the regular season."

According to ESPN stats, Brissett began Monday ranked 15th in the NFL with a 54.0 adjusted QBR and 30th with 368 total passing yards on the season. He tossed one touchdown pass and no interceptions over his first three starts. 

As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 1-2 Patriots as massive 10.5-point underdogs against the 49ers. While plans for first-year signal-callers often change quickly, it certainly feels like Brissett will spend the final Sunday of September playing to hold onto his job.