FOXBORO, Mass. -- After a pair of underwhelming fully-padded practices caused some outside New England to question the legitimacy of Drake Maye, the Patriots developing rookie quarterback had his best day in a week.
It served as a peak in an inevitable peak-and-valley stretch this summer.
"I will say this, he's handled it very well," Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said before Day 7 of training camp Thursday.
"Look, people are going to have their opinions. I would say the opinions inside of the four walls matter most, and I would say the people inside the four walls know what they're talking about. So, you can take that for what it is. We all support Drake."
Maye had more impressive plays at Gillette Stadium on Thursday than any other practice.
The second-string quarterback went 7-for-10, including 5-for-6 in full team periods, and showed improvement as he identified defenses pre-snap. Perhaps the best example of that came on Maye's initial 11-on-11 red zone snap as he audibled at the line of scrimmage and hit tight end Jacob Warren with a quick throw to the flat. It was the perfect answer to what the defense was throwing at him.
Prior to that snap, during the initial 11-on-11 period, Maye identified the coverage and made a quick decision to hit Ja'Lynn Polk on a crosser route. It got the ball in the hands of a play-maker for a nice catch and run, which would have been a first down on gameday.
Maye was 2-for-4 during a red zone 7-on-7 period -- the offense worked predominantly in the red zone. Maye, however, was hindered by a JuJu Smith-Schuster drop and a coverage sack in those five reps. Maye hit K.J. Osborn with a sidearm (no look?) throw as the veteran wideout raced the back end line on his reception under the goal post.
Maye threw a ball to Smith-Schuster on the previous play, the veteran wideout catching the pass before Marcus Jones wrestled it from his hands for an incompletion. Smith-Schuster had his best day of camp Tuesday but has been largely disappointing thus far.
Maye had another impressive throw to tight end Mitchell Wilcox during an 11-on-11 rep. With Maye going to his left, Wilcox broke outside and Maye put the ball between a pair of Patriots defenders. He had a few nice throws moving to his left, hitting La'Michael Pettway in the corner of the end zone during red zone 7-on-7s before the one to Wilcox.
Maye's lone incompletion in 11-on-11s came on a low misfire intended for Douglas. Maye patted his chest after the throw to indicate it was on him.
Maye did struggle in 1-on-1s, as he did Tuesday. The offense went 5-for-14 with him.
He had a few nice throws like that to Wilcox on out-breaking route against Brenden Schooler. Maye also connected with Warren (beat Dell Pettus), running back JaMycal Hasty (beat Jahlani Tavai) and David Wallis (beat Isaiah Bolden). But Marco Wilson earned a pass breakup against Javon Baker, Bolden broke up a pass intended for Polk while Maye and Baker couldn't connect against cornerback Mikey Victor on Maye's final 1-on-1 snap.
Overall, though, is was a solid-not-spectacular session for the rookie. It was one he needed, too, after struggling both Monday (3-for-11, interception) and Tuesday (8-for-15).
Maye and the Patriots will be back on the practice fields for Day 8 of training camp at Gillette Stadium on Friday. Maye is scheduled to speak to the media Friday.
