One of the more unique aspects of the 2024 NFL Draft for Patriots fans was that they were able to tune into the “Pat McAfee Show” to get Bill Belichick’s immediate and unfettered reaction to his former team selecting UNC quarterback Drake Maye.
Belichick’s scouting report on Maye was mixed, but he did say that the potential future franchise quarterback of the Patriots needs to clean up his footwork.
Belichicks’ successor, Jerod Mayo, was asked Monday if he agrees with Belichick’s assessment while appearing on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”
“My thing with Drake, we understand the player on and off the field. We understand that none of these guys are perfect. You can go all the way up to No. 1, 2 or 3. It doesn’t matter. None of these quarterbacks are coming in here ready to play,” Mayo said. “I actually think Coach (Belichick) said that. The only player he knows that was ready to play once they came to the league was Lawrence Taylor. It’s very hard to sit here and say this guy is going to play. But what I will say is he’s going to compete. We have a solid quarterback room, in our opinion, and they’re going to compete, and the best player to going to play.
Mayo was asked on the show if he believes that Maye would benefit from learning on the job while starting right away.
The Patriots signed veteran QB Jacoby Brissett to a one-year, $8 million contract this offseason and still have 2022 fourth-round pick Bailey Zappe on the roster. Nathan Rourke, a CFL product, and Joe Milton, a sixth-round rookie out of Tennessee, fill out the supersized QB room.
“Yeah, but I would also say that every individual is different. We’ll see when he comes in,” Mayo, who started as a first-round rookie in 2008, said. “Right now, we don’t know much about him as far just playing at this level. But once again, they’re going to compete. Jacoby has played a lot of football in this league. Zappe has played football in this league, and Drake hasn’t. So, he has to come in and not only show us that he’s capable of performing on the field but also really taking a leadership role with the young guys and hopefully the rest of the team going forward.
Retired ex-Patriots quarterback Tom Brady made some headlines earlier this month when he said he would consider returning to the playing field if a team needed help for a playoff run. Brady even mentioned the Patriots by name as a team that he would consider joining.
Mayo didn’t make it sound like that was a realistic possibility.
“Look, I love Tom. The door is always open if he wants to come in here and coach. As far as going on the field, I don’t know,” Mayo said. “If he comes in here, once again, going back to the, ‘hey, the best player will play.’ But you gotta come here and compete. He loves competition. I doubt he’s going to be walking through these doors anytime soon.”
Mayo joked that Brady would probably like to skip training camp and join the team in November.
The Patriots’ selection of Milton came as a surprise five rounds after they selected Maye.
The former Michigan and Tennesee signal-caller was the biggest and strongest quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft class but comes with questions about his instincts and processing.
“Joe has a lot of physical tools. This guys is big, has a cannon for an arm,” Mayo said while evaluating the pick.” We just want to see what it looks like. You can never have enough good players on the roster. And another thing that was under considering was, look, he’ll give us a good look defensively when we start going offense vs. defense, having a guy at that size. We’re going to play some of those guys, as well. We’ll see what he can do. We’ll see if he can develop and just excited to get him out there on the field.”
The Patriots will get a look at Maye and Milton in two weeks when they open rookie minicamp on May 10 and 11.