Patriots OTA takeaways: Drake Maye sees limited action; rookie Javon Baker flashes with two highlight catches

FOXBOROUGH, Mass — The New England Patriots offseason workouts continued Wednesday as the club rolled through another OTA session. This is the second organized team activity practice that has been open to the media, which gives us a snapshot of the early foundation that first-year head coach Jerod Mayo is laying down before things ramp up with minicamp and training camp later this summer. 

Naturally, all eyes continue to be on No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye, whom the Patriots seem to be bringing along slowly. While it’s only a matter of time before the first-round quarterback ascends as the franchise’s starter, Wednesday’s sessions continued to see him serve as the third quarterback up during drills. Veteran Jacoby Brissett, who signed with the team in free agency, led the position group and was followed by Bailey Zappe before giving way to Maye for limited reps. 

“My message is, it’s not how many opportunities, it’s what you do with the opportunities that you get,” Mayo said before practice when asked if there was any concern about the lack of reps Maye is receiving. “Look, going back to the competition part of it, the better you do on a day-after-day basis, not just on the field but also in the classroom, the more reps you’ll get going forward.” 

As for how Maye did, it was a bit of a shaky start. In 11-on-11 drills, he overthrew JuJu Smith-Schuster on his first attempt and threw the ball too far in front of a screen pass on the following play. Maye would rally, however, completing his next and final two passes during the session. 

As practice transitioned to a 7-on-7 series, Maye saw some extended work on one side of the field, while Brissett and Zappe alternated on the other field. During this period, Maye completed 12 of his 14 passes and had a couple of highlight throws. The UNC product perfectly placed a deep ball down the right sideline into the arms of an in-stride to Tyquan Thornton. Three plays later, he had another impressive throw where he fit a deep ball into a tight window for Smith-Schuster. Maye also completed his two passes during a limited showing in the team’s final 11-on-11 drill before they concluded the day.  

Here are some other nuggets from the practice fields just outside Gillette Stadium: 

• As I was almost exclusively watching Maye on the right practice field during his 7-on-7 session, my eyes were pulled left to the other practice field thanks to rookie wideout Javon Baker. The fourth-rounder out of UCF made two sensational catches up the left sideline. The first was a contested catch in traffic with multiple defenders in the area, while the second was another contested grab, but arguably more impressive because of how close Baker was to the sideline while still keeping both feet in bounds. 
• Just by the eyeball test, Brissett was the clear best quarterback on the field Wednesday, which makes sense given his time in the league and familiarity with Alex Van Pelt’s offense. Brissett was efficient during 11-on-11 drills and completed a number of impressive deep balls to the likes of Baker and DeMario Douglas. In my estimation, Brissett would be the Week 1 starter if the season started tomorrow. 
• As for Zappe, it was a so-so day for the third-year QB. During the 7-on-7s period, Zappe threw the team’s lone interception. He was also noticeably frustrated with himself during a drill that, as Zappe explained after practice, emphasized keeping the quarterback’s eyes up. Zappe struggled with some accuracy in that specific instance, which led to him taking an added rep or two, and he even threw the ball into the net in what appeared to be out of frustration for not having pinpoint accuracy. Given Brissett’s presence, along with the arrival of two rookies in Maye and Joe Milton III, it remains to be seen how Zappe figures into New England’s plans on the QB depth chart when they get to constructing the 53-man roster.
• A lot of the attention was paid to the Patriots quarterbacks on Wednesday, which made Milton’s absence even more apparent. Pass rusher Matthew Judon was another notable player absent from the session.
• Patriots owner Robert Kraft was on hand for most of the session before departing as the team was winding down the day with some special teams work.