Jerod Mayo shared how Patriots are using Drake Maye in practice, including usage of virtual reality tool

"We have a quarterback in the wings that needs to continue to develop," Mayo said of Maye's relatively high practice usage.

Jerod Mayo offered a peek into what’s been going on with the Patriots’ quarterbacks at practice when he spoke with reporters on Friday.

In that peek, the Patriots coach also confirmed that Drake Maye has received 30 percent of the reps with the starting unit in practice since the preseason began.

“That’s definitely accurate. It’s not a secret,” Mayo told reporters when asked about the 70-30 split in reps between Jacoby Brissett and Maye. “We have a quarterback in the wings that needs to continue to develop. Normally, I would say the starter gets, let’s say, 95 percent 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.”

It was recently reported that Maye’s not only had 30 percent of the practice reps with the starting unit since the start of the regular season, but he’s also getting live game reps when he runs the scout team, according to CBS Sports’ Evan Washburn.

Mayo confirmed that Maye has also played a big role on the scout team, which he said consists of starters and practice squad players, too.

“When we talk about [how] we have a development plan for Drake, that’s part of it,” Mayo said. I try not to get too deep into what that plan actually looks like, but he still takes reps with the starters. He does a good job on the [scout] team as well.”

The Patriots getting as many reps as they can for Maye is crucial to his development. But it’s also a bit unusual for a backup quarterback to get the number of reps in practice that Maye’s gotten, as Mayo mentioned. For instance, Washburn said in his report that Tom Brady virtually received all of the reps with the starting unit in practice during his days with the Patriots.

So, it would be understandable if Brissett felt uneasy about the situation. However, Mayo said the veteran quarterback has handled it well, saying that Brissett “is one of those guys that is egoless.”

“I’ve always said that he’s a true professional,” Mayo said of Brissett. “I’ve always said that he’s a great mentor, not only for Drake, but the other quarterback in the room in [Joe] Milton. He understands. Look, he’s a professional. He’s won games in this league.

“He understands that we drafted Drake as the No. 3 pick in the draft, and looking out the front windshield, at some point in time – I don’t know when that time will come – he’ll have to go out there and play. Just seeing the relationship in the quarterback room has been special for me. It is very hard.”

As the Patriots are seemingly squeezing out as many reps as possible for Maye during practice, the rookie’s work has continued off the field, too. Mayo said that Maye has been using a virtual reality tool “every single day” to help simulate reps.

“They have these different tools that they use to get those mental reps, and those are great reps for those guys to get,” Mayo said of Maye’s usage of the virtual reality tool. “I know oftentimes, everyone’s like, ‘Well, what’s the practice count? What’s this? What’s that?’ There are different ways that you can get reps mentally, which is important.”

Mayo first shared during organized team activities (OTAs) in May that Maye, along with the three other Patriots quarterbacks at the time, was using the virtual reality tool as a means to get extra reps. Maye recently told Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar that he’s also used the virtual reality tool when he’s at home, sharing that he likes the visual learning process.

“You can put on the goggles and really play, but what I like doing more is you can look on the iPad and scroll and say versus this coverage, this is our offense. This is what our routes look like, so there are two ways to do it,” Maye told Lazar. “I’ll go through two-minute [drill] throughout the week, some third-down calls, and just our base concepts. Just come back to the basics.

“It’s great that, hey, I’m not getting reps throughout the week with these plays, so I can go hit them. It’s been an awesome thing.”

Regardless of where Maye’s getting his practice reps, the Patriots seem to like the direction that his development is taking.

“He’s doing a good job, and you can see his confidence continuing to grow,” Mayo said of Maye.