FOXBORO, Mass. -- Jerod Mayo did not lie when he said Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye would play in New England's preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers.
But it almost certainly was less than Patriots fans were hoping for.
Maye, the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, played a mere six snaps at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night. He entered the game on New England's second offensive series after veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett started the game and played one series himself.
Maye looked fine in the contest -- as fine as one can lookin in a six-snap sample size. The offense covered 16 yards in those six plays with one penalty.
Maye played behind what figures to be the Patriots starting offense line consisting of, from left to right, Vederian Lowe, Sidy Sow, David Andres, Mike Onwenu and Chukwuma Okorafor. That was something new as Maye was behind New England's second-string offensive line in 11 training camp practices. The receivers Maye worked with included Ja'Lynn Polk, Jalen Reagor and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Fellow rookie Javon Baker did not enter the game until later on.
Maye completed two of his three passes, both of which came at or behind the line of scrimmage. Maye converted a third-and-12 with a screen pass to Antonio Gibson, who followed a big block from Sow with Andrews out in front. Maye's second completion went to Kevin Harris on a third-and-11 check down. Harris was tackled after six yards and New England punted.
The rookie signal-caller did show some pre-snap awareness when he motioned Gibson from his left to his right before a second-and-long handoff. Gibson, however, picked up a mere two yards on the ground. Maye's incompletion came when he wasn't able to connect with Reagor on first-and-10.
Bailey Zappe took over behind center with 5:14 left in the first quarter. Zappe played the rest of the first half and started the second half. Joe Milton III entered the game with four minutes left in the third quarter and played the rest of the way.
