Alex Van Pelt shares what’s held Patriots back from giving QB Drake Maye first-team reps

The Patriots’ quarterback competition has been the topic of discussion in and around Foxborough since the day they selected Drake Maye with the No. 3 overall pick.

Early on, head coach Jerod Mayo made it clear that Jacoby Brissett would be their starter, alluding to his leadership and his familiarity with the offense. He’s since changed his tune a bit, labeling the QB1 spot a competition with just a handful of practices left in training camp.

“We don’t have a starting QB right now,” Mayo said on Monday. “When it’s time we’ll announce that. [Drake Maye] could absolutely be QB1, so could Jacoby.”

Maye’s preseason performance versus the Eagles last Thursday night was one that likely helped his push to be New England’s Week 1 starter. The rookie turned four drives into 10 points while completing six of his 11 pass attempts for 47 yards. He also scored a rushing touchdown — and his best pass was actually dropped by WR Javon Baker.

Despite the positive performance, the QB has seen limited reps with the Patriots’ “1s” during practice. On Thursday, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt gave a very straight forward answer when asked what’s gotten in the way of Maye seeing more run with the starters.

“Jacoby,” he said without hesitation. “Right now he’s our starting quarterback.”

Despite saying in his own words that Brissett is still the Patriots’ QB1, Van Pelt did acknowledge that Maye has made plenty of progress — and more specifically did so in last Thursday’s contest against Philly:

“He’s been really impressive, the last few weeks especially,” he said while later acknowledging, “[Drake] made a big jump last week from the game in through practice. He’s had a really good couple days of practice. The footwork and the timing, you start to see it pay off in some of those throws.”

So is there really a chance that Maye starts Week 1? Van Pelt technically left the door open — while also emphasizing that they don’t want to rush their rookie into the fire:

“I’m sure [there’s a chance]” he explained. “Coach [Mayo] said it’s open competition. Obviously we have one more game to go. I’m sure there’s a chance, but I think as you go in there’s a still a process of how you bring a rookie quarterback along. So I think that’s important to remember as well.”

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