Patriots
“I have a lot of hope that things will develop the way they are. But again, it’s not in my area.”
Drake Maye participated in Thursday’s practice at Gillette Stadium. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe team)
Despite missing most of last Sunday’s win over the Jets after suffering a concussion, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye may not be on the mend for long.
Before the start of Thursday’s practice at Gillette Stadium, Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt reported that Maye had made significant progress since first landing in the concussion protocol earlier this week.
“He’s in the protocol, and I’m going to let the coaching staff handle all that,” Van Pelt said Thursday. “He showed up to practice yesterday, did some limited things on the field. Let’s hope he progresses. I really hope things work out the way they are. But again, it’s not in my area.
Maye continued to improve once Thursday’s practice began.
After being limited in practice on Wednesday and not being spotted during the media portion of practice, Christopher Price of The Boston Globe noted Thursday that Maye was present at the start of practice — even taking the first QB reps in front of veteran Jacoby Brissett.
Maye was officially listed as “limited” on Thursday, but could already be in Phase 4 of the NFL’s 5-step concussion protocol.
Under NFL rules, Phase 4 is called “non-contract club exercises,” which is what Maye participated in on Thursday.
“The player continues cardiovascular, strength and balance training, team sport specific exercises and participates in non-contact football activities (e.g. throwing, catching, running and other position specific activities)” , note the league’s rules for Phase 4. “Neurocognitive and balance testing must be completed no later than the end of Phase Four, with results interpreted as a return to baseline values.”
The final hurdle for Maye is Phase 5, which involves “full football activity/authorization.”
Although Brissett helped New England orchestrate a last-minute comeback against the Jets, New England’s offensive capabilities are higher with Maye under center.
In four games, Maye completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 564 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He also became a legitimate threat on the ground – gaining 114 rushing yards (8.8 yards per carry) while scoring a touchdown against the Jets before his injury.
While Maye was injured on a scrambled play later in New England’s game against the Jets, Van Pelt stressed that the Patriots were not going to discourage their rookie QB from using his legs to gain yards additional.
“You’d hate to take that away from a player,” Van Pelt said Thursday. “It’s one of his strengths, his ability to get out of the pocket. … “The only thing we talked about was being safe in the slide.
“A lot of times you walk into a space where it feels clean and you can go in feet first – which is what we train in an open space – but again, you never know what’s going to happen. goes behind. So quarterbacks who often avoid injuries will find a soft spot by going head first and just putting themselves out there. So that’s something we continue to work on with him.
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