Bill Belichick isn’t head over heels for Drake Maye.
At least, not yet.
In the first episode of his Underdog Fantasy “Coach” series, Belichick gave a lukewarm take on Maye while speaking with ex-New England Patriots staffer Mike Lombardi.
The former Patriots head coach also was critical of Maye after New England selected him with the third pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Bill Belichick Not Blown Away by Drake Maye’s Preseason Performance
Maye shook off a sluggish start to training camp by closing the preseason with consecutive strong performances against the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders. The rookie was so good that he nearly won the starting quarterback competition against Jacoby Brissett, who held a huge lead midway through August.
Belichick still wants to see more, though.
“You like his size and you like his arm,” Belichick told Lombardi. “I think his inexperience really showed up in the preseason as it did a little bit at North Carolina. And I think he needs a lot of seasoning in terms of reading coverages, overall throwing mechanics, and consistency.
“Is he a big, fast athlete? Yeah. But I think it’s going to take more than that to be ready to play quarterback in the National Football League.”
Bill Belichick's thoughts on Patriots Rookie QB Drake Maye 👀 pic.twitter.com/7kJAe2vLcg
— Underdog Fantasy (@UnderdogFantasy) September 7, 2024
Belichick also said Maye has more areas for improvement than fellow top rookie QBs Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels.
“I think Maye probably has more of these than the other quarterbacks do based on what we’ve seen in preseason, which is, granted, a limited sample,” Belichick said.
Maye ultimately didn’t do enough to earn New England’s starting QB job. But Patriots fans might not have to wait much longer to see the future of the franchise on Sundays.
When Could Maye Debut for the New England Patriots?
That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?
If you asked in early August, we would’ve leaned toward Maye redshirting most, if not all, of his rookie season. He looked that raw in most training camp practices, and Brissett looked that much more capable of running a functional offense.
But everything changed on Aug. 15, when Maye shed his training wheels in an impressive preseason performance against Philadelphia. His breakout coincided with more struggles from Brissett, and Maye continued outplaying his veteran counterpart in ensuing practices.
Jerod Mayo left the door open for Maye to be named the Week 1 starter, but in the end, the first-year head coach went with Brissett — which was the right choice.
Brissett will start Sunday’s season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, and it would be surprising to see him lose his job anytime soon.
However, Maye’s improvement can’t be ignored, and his timeline might’ve changed. We previously would’ve bet on Maye debuting sometime after the team’s Week 14 bye. Now, you can’t rule out Maye debuting sometime in October.
In the next three weeks, the Patriots will host the Seattle Seahawks, visit the New York Jets, and visit the San Francisco 49ers. It’s fair to wonder whether the Patriots could turn to Maye after that daunting stretch.
In the meantime, the Patriots can only hope Brissett will keep the team afloat.