NFL Insider: Drake Maye ‘a ways away’ from starting for Patriots

"Looks to me, it is still Jacoby Brissett going forward for New England.”

Drake Maye might have made his NFL debut in New England’s Week 3 loss to the Jets. But Patriots fans clamoring for the rookie quarterback to start as soon as possible might need to wait a while longer.

As expected, Jacoby Brissett will get the start for Sunday’s Week 4 matchup against the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. And based on NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport’s latest report, Brissett is expected to sit atop the depth chart for the next few weeks.

“When is Drake Maye going to play for the Patriots? Not today, barring injury,” Rapoport noted on Sunday morning. “My understanding is he’s still a ways away from being on the field. The Patriots have not started the ramp up process, he is still getting about 30% of the snaps in practice. Looks to me, it is still Jacoby Brissett going forward for New England.”

While the Patriots haven’t steered from their plan of keeping Brissett in place as the team’s QB1, New England’s lackluster aerial attack (102 passing yards per game), Maye’s high ceiling and the rookie’s debut against New York has led to stronger calls for the 22-year-old to start sooner rather than later.

Maye’s stock has continued to soar after the rookie earned high marks in practice from Jerod Mayo and the rest of New England’s coaching staff.

“He’s progressing and makes some great throws in practice against us. I remember one specifically that I went in the next day and was like, ‘I hate you. That was a great throw,’” Patriots cornerback coach Mike Pellegrino told MassLive’s Mark Daniels. “He’s doing a good job so far. He stuck one in between tight coverage on a new call that we had a couple of weeks ago. It was like, ‘I really wish he didn’t make that throw, but you did.’”

“Really good. He’s continuing to grow,” Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt added when asked of Maye’s development. “I think the game experience the other night will really help him moving forward. … The plan’s in place, and I think we’re certainly seeing him starting to really grow on the practice field.”

Given New England’s struggles on the offensive line, keeping Maye on the sideline might be the best course of action right now. After the Patriots relinquished seven sacks and 15 QB hits against the Jets, the last thing New England needs is their potential franchise QB to get hurt — or run the risk of his internal clock getting sped up.

“Drake’s getting a ton of reps on the show team, and he’s approached that process the right way. He doesn’t want to know what the defense is doing,” Mayo said. “He doesn’t want to know the coverage. He’s going out there, going through his reads, and we talk about that all the time. Just because you’re on the show team doesn’t mean you can’t work on your fundamentals and your progressions, and he’s done a good job of that.”