The New England Patriots named Jacoby Brissett their starting quarterback over third-overall pick Drake Maye out of training camp.
It's proven to be a smart decision so far, as Brissett helped the Patriots upset the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 in the season opener.
However, New England has still been giving Maye plenty of opportunities with the first team in practice, which isn't something that happens on most teams.
A report that originally came from CBS' Evan Washburn stated that the Patriots have given Maye 30% of the reps at practice. Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo confirmed that report during his media availability on Friday.
"Who told you that? Somebody told you that," Mayo asked with a laugh. "That's definitely accurate. It's not a secret. We have a quarterback in the wings that needs to continue to develop. Normally, I would say the starter gets, let's say, 95% of the reps and the backup doesn't. With this, it's a little bit different. We had a conversation, how do we – I guess the struggle is, how do you get your starting quarterback prepared for the game and also continue to develop the guy in the background, which is Drake.
"So, it is like a 70-30 split. You're right on the head. We’re very thoughtful. When we talk about [how] we have a development plan for Drake, that's part of it. I try not to get too deep into what that plan actually looks like, but he [Maye] still takes reps with the starters. He does a good job on the show team as well. He's doing a good job, and you can see his confidence continuing to grow."
New England needs to give Maye opportunities to learn while he's sitting on the bench on game day. This should prepare him for when he eventually steps on the field for the first time in a regular season game. It's just unknown whether that will be at some point this year or next.
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