Drake Maye is on track to sit out the New England Patriots’ preseason opener Thursday night against the Indianapolis Colts.
Head coach Mike Vrabel said Tuesday, before the Patriots’ joint practice with Indianapolis, that he does not expect his starting quarterback to be on the field for the first exhibition game.
“I wouldn’t anticipate seeing Drake out there on Thursday, but that’s all subject to change,” Vrabel explained. “That’s kind of where my mindset is right now, standing here today.
Really, it’s just important that we get the work in and get things accomplished that we’re looking to get accomplished. That can always change, but I wouldn’t anticipate that happening right now.”
If Maye does indeed stay on the sideline, it would mark a different approach from his previous two preseason openers. As a rookie in 2024, he played six snaps against the Panthers, and last year he logged 14 snaps against the Commanders.
With Maye likely out, the quarterback duties against Indianapolis would fall to current backup Tommy DeVito and seventh-round rookie Behren Morton.
Vrabel also said the Patriots are still sorting out how to divide reps between Tuesday’s practice and Thursday’s game, depending on which players are available.
“A lot of the front-line players and whoever’s available, some of the guys maybe won’t get as much work today, will get extensive work in the game on Thursday,” he said. “That’s just how it goes. Let’s see how today goes and we can always adjust and plan accordingly.”
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DeVito, in particular, made the day interesting by stacking together several scoring plays in team work, giving the Patriots another evaluation point behind Maye. The depth chart will keep shifting as camp moves on, and the larger picture around the roster remains unsettled with some absences still tied to injuries and contract issues, but practice against Indianapolis at least showed that the backup job is far from a formality. [Read more 🡒]