Patriots QBs coach shared why Drake Maye can benefit from sitting

The Patriots are continuing to plead patience on when they’ll play Drake Maye, from the head coach down to the rookie’s positional coach.

Patriots quarterbacks coach TC McCartney explained that Maye has the opportunity to benefit from watching Jacoby Brissett while on the bench, even if the starting quarterback is getting beaten up.

“It’s definitely valuable – just getting in there, getting reps. I don’t want to undervalue how important those reps are, but there’s a lot of other development that goes on besides the actual reps,” McCartney told reporters on Friday (via MassLive’s Mark Daniels). “He’ll get plenty of reps throughout his career. But the development that goes on from watching someone else in the meeting room, experiencing these for the first time.

“He has the benefit of seeing Jacoby take the hits. And he can learn something there. So, there’s a lot of things that can happen outside of reps.”

Maye has gotten to see Brissett get hit a lot through the first four weeks of the season. The veteran quarterback has been sacked 15 times, with 11 of those sacks coming over the last two weeks. When accounting for the two sacks Maye took in his NFL debut against the Jets in Week 3, the 17 sacks the Patriots have allowed are the second-most in the league.

Brissett has also been under constant duress. New England’s pass block win rate (39 percent) is last in the NFL by four percent. They’ve also allowed a pressure on 46.7 percent of their dropbacks this season, per The Athletic’s Chad Graff.

Additionally, the Patriots are also managing a handful of injuries along their offensive line. The latest blow was losing starting center David Andrews, arguably their best offensive lineman, for the season due to a shoulder injury. Rookie offensive tackle Caedan Wallace was also placed on injured reserve on Friday due to an ankle injury he suffered in the Week 4 loss to the 49ers.

The Patriots might be getting left tackle Vederian Lowe back in Week 5 against the Dolphins. He’s being listed as questionable for Sunday’s game and was taking reps with the starting unit during Friday’s practice.

Still, New England’s offensive line is in pretty rough shape. Starting right guard Layden Robinson and likely starting center Nick Leverett are questionable for Sunday’s game after being limited in practice all week.

So, Brissett will remain behind the patched-up offensive line for another week. But that doesn’t mean Maye isn’t getting work in, as McCartney mentioned. Patriots coach Jerod Mayo confirmed to reporters following Week 1 that Maye was receiving 30 percent of the reps in practice, an unusually high number for a backup.

McCartney is encouraged by what Maye’s shown on the practice field, saying he’s “excited about his future.” But he also pointed to where Maye could stand to improve before hitting the field as a starting quarterback.

“His overall development, understanding where the ball needs to go when things didn’t go exactly as planned,” McCartney said. “Whether people aren’t open. Whether it’s hot – a protection breakdown. Operating in chaos is always something you’ve got to learn.”

McCartney’s comments on how far Maye is from starting seem to reflect recent reporting on when the rookie might start. Maye is still a “ways away” from becoming the starting quarterback as the Patriots have yet to start up the “ramp up” process for him, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday.

In a more recent report, Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard said on his podcast he heard Maye “is not ready” to start yet as there are “some things associated with the offense that he’s working through.”

The Patriots have iterated since they drafted Maye in April that they have a plan in place for his development, which includes when he’ll start. Mayo has continued to say the team is sticking with that plan.

“What we’re doing is what we think is best. What I’m doing is what I think is best for the Patriots today, and also in the future,” Mayo told WEEI on Monday.