Drake Maye’s Patriots training camp struggles are worrying: ‘Ghost of Mac Jones’

Drake Maye has strung together some rather forgettable padded practices at the Patriots training camp while worries continue to grow.

The Patriots are hoping the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 draft will be their QB of the future, but thus far, Maye has compiled a rather ugly résumé at training camp.

During Tuesday’s practice, the rookie went 1-for-6 in a two-minute red zone drill with an incomplete corner fade to Javon Baker in the end zone causing the entire offense to do push-ups.

His performance has not inspired much hope in those around the team, who are looking for improvement after New England moved on from its last hope at a cornerstone passer in trading Mac Jones to the Jaguars this offseason.

“I’m the last person in the world who wanted to see what I saw, I wanted to lie to myself today,” sports commentator Michael Holley said Monday on NBC Sports Boston. “I watched Drake Maye in college, I loved him in college you guys know that. He was a tremendous college player. At times in North Carolina people compared him to Justin Herbert, I said ‘I can see that.’ People compared him to Josh Allen. I can see that at North Carolina.”

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“Today, in Foxborough, you know who I saw? The ghost of Mac Jones. I saw the ghost of Mac Jones. Not just Mac Jones facing off against Tom Brady as a rookie, we are talking about Mac Jones in Dallas in that awful game that awful beatdown they took at Dallas last year. He was terrible, he was terrible in every sense of the word. He couldn’t get anything right.”

Unfortunately, the toss to Baker wasn’t the only time eyebrows were raised at Maye’s underwhelming performance.

He had a disastrous off-platform throw that dialed wide of JuJu Smith-Schuster.

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On another play, tight end Mitchell Wilcox was sandwiched between two defenders because of Maye’s hospital ball. One more lowlight was his rollout throw intended for an outstretched Ja’Lynn Polk.

Multiple reports claim Maye has been folding under the Patriots’ defensive pressure.

During the same drill, the defense – ranked No. 7 last season – returned a Kevin Harris fumble for a touchdown, and the disarray led to the Patriots lining up incorrectly.

The play was halted, and Maye’s crew had to restart.

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Reports state that it’s hard to identify Joe Milton III – the sixth-round flier – from Maye, the third pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, heightening fans’ and pundits’ apprehensions.

Milton converted consecutive touchdowns to Polk off a drag and another to Smith-Schuster in the few reps he was allotted.

Meanwhile, Maye was the lone quarterback who didn’t secure a touchdown pass in Tuesday’s drill.

He ended the day 8-for-15, which featured a 5-for-11 stretch during the teams’ 11-on-11.

Maye was coming off a cold spell on Monday when he was 3-for-11 during competitive periods.

Thankfully, two padded practices are a small sample size, and Maye has some time to turn it around before the Patriots’ regular season ensues on Sept. 8 in a clash with the Cincinnati Bengals.

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