The New England Patriots are in a precarious position as it relates to their regular-season finale at home against the Buffalo Bills. The Week 18 contest will close the door on an underwhelming season, but they could walk out of it with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if they were to fall to Buffalo.
With that scenario in mind, there’s not a ton of motivation for the team to put out a competitive effort, and it has allowed for some fodder about the possibility of sitting Drake Maye. After all, the No. 3 overall pick is dealing with a right hand injury, so there is logic to keeping him out of harm’s way in a meaningless game while also securing the coveted draft position. However, it looks like Maye has the green light to at least start in the final game of his rookie season.
“Drake looked good yesterday, so he’s ready to go,” Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt told reporters Thursday. “He’ll be starting the game, for sure.”
When asked if the plan is to play Maye the full game, Van Pelt said, “We’re playing the game to win the game, for sure. We’ll see how it goes from that point, but yes, that’s the intent.”
While that would suggest that New England will simply keep Maye on the field wire-to-wire on Sunday, the door may be slightly ajar for fellow rookie Joe Milton III to see some action. Van Pelt told reporters that Milton, who has primarily served as the scout team quarterback this season, did see work this week with the starting offense on Wednesday.
There’s an argument to be made for the Patriots to play Milton in some capacity in Week 18 that goes beyond solidifying a draft pick. With veteran backup Jacoby Brissett set to be a free agent, seeing what Milton can do in a game setting could give New England a better perspective on his ability to possibly be the primary backup in 2025.
“I think he’s done a great job all year,” Van Pelt said of Milton. “The stuff that he does on scout team has been impressive. His ability to throw the ball. You know, he’s an elite passer in that regard. We’ll see. We have all three guys ready to go. We’ll make that decision later in the week, but if he does get in there, I’m excited to see what he can do.”
Milton was selected with the 193rd pick in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Tennessee.
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Author: Tyler Sullivan
January 2, 2025 | 3:01 pm
