FOXBORO — A promising day for rookie quarterback Drake Maye was wrecked by the Patriots’ backup offensive line Tuesday in the team’s only joint practice of the summer.

The Eagles came to Gillette Stadium two days early for Thursday’s preseason game to hold one single joint practice.

Maye went through a 7-on-7 period and two turns of 11-on-11s before a passing attempt hit the ground in competitive team drills. But things ended ugly for the Patriots’ offense with Maye under water from Eagles pressure as soon as he dropped back — assuming the snap from third-string center Atonio Mafi got to him cleanly.

Before Tuesday’s practice, head coach Jerod Mayo boiled Maye’s performance through the first three weeks of training camp to one word.

“He’s been steady. I think if I was to say one word, it’s steady,” Mayo said. “He’s always in the building, always studying. He’s out here trying to get better each and every day. He’ll get more reps this week if that’s the underlying question. He’ll get more reps this week, believe me.”

After stretching and individual drills, the Patriots and Eagles kicked off the competitive portion of practice with 1-on-1 drills, pitting quarterbacks, running backs and tight ends against defensive backs.

Patriots quarterbacks were just 20-of-37 in 1-on-1 drills, with starter Jacoby Brissett faring much better than his rookie competition.

Maye was just 6-of-15 but made the play of the day for the Patriots’ offense, hitting rookie wide receiver on a go route down the left sideline. Polk beat Eagles cornerback Shon Stephens off the line of scrimmage and tossed his hand in the air to let Maye know he was going deep. Polk reached out and made a fantastic catch off his fingertips on a well-placed ball from Maye.

Maye was otherwise imperfect in the period. He overthrew his first two passes to tight ends Mitchell Wilcox and La’Michael Pettway. He also missed deep to wide receiver Kayshon Boutte in the first throw of his second turn.

Maye did finish strong, however, going 3-of-4 with completions to Boutte, David Wallis and Tyquan Thornton in his final turn. Thornton wound up wide open after beating Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers with a double move.

The Patriots and Eagles then split onto separate fields for 7-on-7 drills, where Brissett and Maye both asserted themselves well.

Brissett was 5-of-6. His lone incompletion was wide to wide receiver K.J. Osborn. Maye was 6-of-6 with a deep completion to rookie wide receiver Javon Baker.

Linemen rejoined their squads for 11-on-11s, and Brissett was 2-of-2. He was also “sacked” when Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham beat right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor.

Maye was 3-of-3, taking what the defense was giving him with short completions to Polk (two) and Douglas. He was also “sacked” when Eagles outside linebacker Nolan Smith beat backup tackle Calvin Anderson.

Brissett matched Maye by going 3-of-3 on his next turn with completions to Osborn, running back Antonio Gibson and tight end Austin Hooper. There were two penalties called on the drive, a false start by the Patriots and offsides by the Eagles defense.

Maye’s next series saw him hand the ball off two times.

Then things turned ugly. Brissett was just 1-of-3 with an interception on his next series with two incompletions to Hooper. The second was dropped by Hooper in the back of the end zone and picked off by linebacker Zack Baun.

Maye was 0-for-1 on his next turn with an incompletion to Polk. The Patriots were also flagged for a false start on the series.

Brissett threw a touchdown to Hooper on the next drive but was 1-of-2 overall in his next turn. Brissett got the next series, as well, and was 2-of-6 with an interception that appeared to get negated by a facemask penalty on the Eagles. Left guard Sidy Sow was flagged for a false start on the drive, and Brissett was sacked when he got tripped up. Backup center Nick Leverett has replaced David Andrews on the series.

Maye went 2-of-4 in his next drive with more unforced errors. One play was upended when Mafi had a bad snap. Baker was also flagged for offensive pass interference by official on hand for the session. One of Maye’s passes was also batted at the line of scrimmage.

Brissett was 4-of-9 with two sacks on his final series of 11-on-11s. He did hit wide receiver Jalen Reagor on a downfield pass.

Maye was sacked three times on four snaps in his final drive. He also threw incomplete to Boutte.

Maye took accountability for the sacks, though the stalled drive didn’t appear to be the QB’s fault.

“First of all, I could get the ball out early, early downs. Sacks, I think took too many, whether I’m feeling something, backside or whatever, gotta get the ball out,” Maye said. “Other than that, try to find completions whether it’s hitting the back or try to do something.”

The rookie also cautioned that some of the “sacks” he takes in practice could be scrambles in games.

“With the red (non-contact) jersey on, it’s hard to simulate that, kind of emulate my college game. It comes from feel and being in the pocket in a game, running around, scrambling around. It comes with game reps, when you’re thinking a sack out here, I’m scrambling outside of the pocket and making a play. I think that’s more of a game thing.”

Overall, Maye might have slightly outplayed Brissett in Tuesday’s practice, but the performance from the Patriots’ offensive line made any quarterback play difficult to gauge. If the Patriots are sincere about giving Maye more playing time in Thursday’s preseason game, then they would be wise to use their starting offensive line to protect their first-round investment.