Drake Maye has plenty on his plate heading into Year 2 of his promising NFL career.
Not only is the New England Patriots quarterback expected to make the second-year leap on the field, he'll also be counted on to grow as a vocal leader inside the locker room. The 22-year-old spoke about the leadership role after Monday's minicamp practice at Gillette Stadium.
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WATCH HERE“I think it’s an opportunity for me to take a jump from last year being a rookie, trying to come in here and kind of earn my stripe, earn my keep through hard work,” Maye told reporters following the first practice of mandatory minicamp.
“I think Coach (Mike) Vrabel kind of set that tone when he came here and got hired of, ‘Hey, if you’re not doing the right thing, repeated times, there’s going to be some consequences,’” Maye said. “I think that’s something we needed to establish, and I think it’s something that me growing up with three older brothers and around older people my whole life, I’ve kind of been comfortable once I got acclimated – I feel like I definitely am now – to step into that zone.”
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SIGN UP Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry have watched Maye throughout OTAs and were in attendance for Monday's minicamp session. On the latest Patriots Talk Podcast, they discussed Maye's growth into a vocal leader.
🔊 Patriots Talk Podcast: Drake Maye discusses the year two leadership jump | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
"He is still very young and he's got a lot to learn, and he's got a lot of room to grow. Those are all good things, but I think you want to make sure that you're not too deferential if you're Drake Maye," Perry said. "He's the youngest of four boys. My guess is, even though he probably had to fight to hold his own at times, he also probably had a lot of loud voices around him at all times. And so, there wasn't a lot of need for him to speak up and organize the group. Whereas, that's gonna be part of his job out here now.
"To hear him talk about how he can get after guys, that to me is a far cry from where he was around this time last year, where he was just trying to take it all in."
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After being drafted third overall, Maye learned under veteran signal-caller Jacoby Brissett throughout his rookie year. The Patriots took it slow with their prized QB, but that won't be the case in 2025.
"The Patriots opted to treat him as an apprentice early on," Curran said. "But this year, they're foisting it on him. 'You're the leader, you're in charge.' And showing him his expectations and telling everybody, 'Ask him, look at him, he's the guy in charge' on the field."
Perry believes Vrabel and the Patriots have made a conscious effort to bring more vocal leadership out of Maye during practices this spring.
"I think we're seeing that at these last two practices we've been out here for, Day 1 of minicamp and the last OTA session we were here for," Perry said.
"They finish practice with these conditioning runs where Drake Maye has to call out and use a certain type of cadence and change up his cadences, the snap count. ... Vrabel's purposefully, intentionally putting Maye in that situation where he has to be the voice for the rest of the team, and it's 90 guys out here. I think he's trying to -- maybe, my guess is he's trying to draw a little bit more out of him in that regard."
Also in the episode:
- What should be the expectations for Maye?
- Takeaways from Day 1 of minicamp practice.
