Patriots running ‘rare’ Drake Maye-Jacoby Brissett reps split in practice: ‘Eye opening’

Jacoby Brissett may be the Patriots’ QB1, but he’s not getting all the starting reps in practice. 

New England head coach Jerod Mayo confirmed to reporters on Friday that rookie Drake Maye has been getting an unusual amount of first-team snaps in practice for a backup. 

“We have a quarterback in the wings that needs to continue to develop,” Mayo said. “Normally, I would say the starter gets, let’s say, 95 percent of the reps and the backup doesn’t. With this, it’s a little bit different. We had a conversation, how do we… I guess the struggle is, how do you get your starting quarterback prepared for the game and also continue to develop the guy in the background, which is Drake.

“So, it is like a 70-30 split. You’re right on the head. We’re very thoughtful. When we talk about [how] we have a development plan for Drake, that’s part of it. I try not to get too deep into what that plan actually looks like, but he [Maye] still takes reps with the starters. He does a good job on the [scout] team as well. He’s doing a good job, and you can see his confidence continuing to grow.”

CBS Sports previously reported Maye has been getting live reps when he is running the scout team offense.

The Patriots took Maye with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but have indicated that they want to take it slow with their blue-chip quarterback prospect. 

Brissett, 31, signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Patriots in the offseason and ended up winning the team’s starting quarterback job during the preseason, serving as the unofficial bridge to the Maye-era at the position. 

Although there’s no question who the quarterback of the future is in Foxborough, former NFL signal-caller Chase Daniel called the split-reps move “extremely eye opening [and] rare.”

“I’ve never heard or been part of a situation where a [team’s] starting QB is not getting 100% of the rep,” Daniel wrote on X on Friday.

The Patriots pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of Week 1 behind Brissett, beating the Bengals in Cincinnati, 16-10.