The New England Patriots are entering a new era with No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye at the helm at quarterback. But it seems like new head coach Jerod Mayo is hesitant to hand the reigns over to him right away. At least until the team’s plan for his first offseason has fully been completed.
Thus far, Maye hasn’t received the amount of on-field reps that most would expect of a top pick of his caliber. The likes of Jacoby Brissett and Bailey Zappe have been receiving the majority of on-field reps during individual drills in OTAs over Maye.
According to Jerod Mayo, this is all part of the organization’s unique plan for Maye, which includes the use of virtual reality to get Maye more “mental reps” than actual on-field reps early on in his career.
“It’s a case-by-case basis, but I would also say, it’s not only what is done out here on the football field,” Mayo said on Wednesday via NESN. “I know that when we talk about meetings, we usually talk about sitting at a desk and taking notes, but we have spaces inside the building where you can actually go out there and get real-life looks at the defenses and go through the calls with coaches, so he’ll get his reps.”
“I think the virtual stuff is great and that’s another way that you can steal some of those reps without being on the football field. We’re absolutely interested in that type of technology, we have rooms in the building that have some of that technology, but obviously, technology changes every single day. We’re looking for the best thing.”
Typically, NFL coaches have favored getting quarterbacks as many on-field reps as possible early on in their careers. So it is certainly not the normal way to approach preparing a rookie quarterback for on-field action.
However, the method is reportedly not unheard of in football. Former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who went one pick ahead of Maye in this year’s draft, reportedly prepared for the 2023-24 collegiate season at LSU with the help of virtual reality.
Daniels of course went on to win the 2023 Heisman Trophy. So clearly, the Patriots are hoping that they can see similar improvements from Maye ahead of his NFL debut.
[NESN]
