Drake Maye and Joe Milton III, rookie quarterbacks attending their first OTAs, have lots of room to develop.
Listening to Patriots quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney before Tuesday’s practice, it’s evident that much of the growth is currently on the ground level. Maye and Milton are both from institutions that did not have offenses like New England’s, so they are getting acquainted with the terminology and principles.
Though fans love competition, at this point in the calendar, these sessions are more educational than competitive.
“Drake’s been awesome. He’s eager to learn. He’s been improving every day,” McCartney said when asked about the No. 3 overall pick. “You see it on the field, you see it in the meeting room. So it’s been really good… we’re teaching him a lot of new things — things he didn’t do in college — so there was bound to be pretty quick improvement from Day 1 until now. From the footwork just to understanding what we’re trying to do with these calls.”
Coming from Tennessee, Milton is in the same boat.
“Similar to Drake, in college they weren’t doing anything we were doing,” stated McCartney. “He had a little exposure in Michigan early in his career to some of the things we were doing, but from footwork to just understanding how we’re going to call plays and why we’re calling those plays, I think he’s made great strides so far.”
On the field, they’re working on mechanics like timing and footwork, which have been extensively documented in Maye’s case. When asked about Milton specifically, McCartney emphasized “tying our eyes to our feet” and delivering passes at the proper time.
With both rookies taking the same course load, McCartney believes it’s extremely beneficial for the two of them to be adjusting to NFL life together.
“I love having two rookies together,” McCartney added. “When I was in Denver, we had two rookies, Drew Lock and Brett Rypien, and they could simply feed off each other. They frequently have similar questions and can discuss them with one another. So I believe it’s actually excellent for improvement when we don’t meet together.
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