Patriots minicamp notebook: Drake Maye impresses in busy day of work

The New England Patriots began their final week of the offseason program on Monday as they held their first day of mandatory minicamp.

While minicamp sessions still do not include pads or contact, there was still plenty to take away from the two-hour session.

Attendance

Absentees: LB Sione Takitaki*, LB Jahlani Tavai*, LB Joshua Uche, OL Jake Andrews*, OL Cole Strange*, WR Kendrick Bourne*

*Present in street clothes

With minicamp being a mandatory portion of the offseason, head coach Jerod Mayo shared the team had full attendance. That included the return of Matthew Judon, who was heavily involved throughout the day despite being in line for a potential contract adjustment.

Davon Godchaux falls in a similar camp with no guaranteed money left on his deal, and the veteran defenseman lineman was not a full participant on Monday.

Takeaways

No. 3 pick: For the second straight media-attended practice, Drake Maye repped immediately behind Jacoby Brissett as the team’s No. 2 QB — a change from the start of OTA’s when Bailey Zappe was second-man up.

Seeing a large volume of work on Monday, Maye looked like the No. 3 overall pick on the field. He was accurate throughout the day which was highlighted by a pass up the seam in the end zone to Jaheim Bell. Even one of the few incompletions were some of Maye’s best passes — such as a seam pass into a tight window to La’Michael Pettway.

Maye also had an impressive off-platform side arm toss to Ja’Lynn Polk in the flat, which caught Jabrill Peppers’ eye as he replicated the throwing motion on the sideline.

Changing of the guards: Speaking Monday morning, Mayo alluded to the best five players would earn spots along the starting offensive line. That led to a notable swap up front once the players hit the field.

While free agent addition Nick Leverett worked at right guard, he was replaced at times by Mike Onwenu — leading to rookie Caedan Wallace taking over at right tackle.

“It’s all competition and we’re going to try to put the best five out there,” Mayo said.

Two-minute struggles: New England spent a large portion of the day running one- and two-minute drills during team drills. The results favored the defense, as they allowed just one scoring drive — a 52-yard field goal from Chad Ryland — which was led by Jacoby Brissett.

Maye’s two drives ended with a “sack” and completion to JuJu Smith-Schuster in bounds, while Bailey Zappe’s turn ended immediately on a first play pick-six by Kyle Dugger.

Kicker competition: For the first time this spring, veteran Joey Slye attempted live field goals during practice as he rotated in with Ryland. Slye knocked through all four of his attempts (from 32, 37, 42, and 47 yards) while Ryland pushed two of his to the right (37, 47).

As mentioned above, Ryland then received the lone kick in one-minute work which he knocked through from 52 yards out.

Other notes:

• With Jonathan Jones limited, Alex Austin and Isaiah Bolden saw plenty of work in the secondary. Safety Jaylinn Hawkins also remains heavily involved.
• Second-round receiver Ja’Lynn Polk has his most notable day of spring practices. That included a pair of touchdown grabs over Christian Gonzalez and Azizi Hearn.
• Maye again was one of the last players off the field as he stayed late throwing to Polk and Smith-Schuster, as well as taking snaps from Layden Robinson and Ryan Johnson.
• Minicamp practice featured referees on Monday, and Jerod Mayo told them to not be shy of throwing flags. They weren’t as they was plenty of procedural penalties throughout.
• Tempers flared at the end of practice between offensive lineman Michael Jordan and defensive lineman Trysten Hill. Jordan was sent off the field afterwards.
• A new wide receiver was on the field as the team held Rory Starkey on a tryout.
• Former Patriots are starting to come back into town with Tom Brady night on the horizon. Julian Edelman and Vince Wilfork were spectators at Monday’s practice.

New England will not take the field on Tuesday and instead has something planned with players off-the-field. They will then wrap up the offseason program with practice on Wednesday.