The reaction to Patriots coach Jerod Mayo’s comments regarding Drake Maye have been the talk of this past weekend’s rookie mini-camp. 

Mayo met with the media prior to Saturday’s practice and he was asked about his early impressions regarding Drake Maye. 

“Early impressions of Drake? Look, he has a lot to work on. A lot to work on. But I have no doubt that he will put the time in. You didn’t see him out here yesterday, but he was here all night trying to get on the same page as everyone else.”

Mayo’s response was the correct response. Maye has only been in town for a couple of days. He is just starting to learn the playbook and how to be a pro. He does have a lot to work on. 

The response got the attention of the media and fans alike but it is the truth. Mayo answered the same way any other coach would have. Maye is just starting out. He has a lot to work on. It is early.

So what is the rookie signal caller working on? Mayo was asked that exact question.

“Yeah, it just comes down to time, that’s the biggest hurdle. Then, you work under some of these phase 2, phase 3 rules, where you don’t have as much time as you want to, so you can’t have those conversations. Hard work works, we talk about it all the time, and he is working hard. Day 1 is kind of hard to say that this guy did X, Y, and Z.”

The Patriots are doing about as much as they can with him under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement. They will get to work with more this month and then at next month’s mandatory mini-camp June 12th-14th. 

As for who has been working with him the most thus far, Mayo said that offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt spends the most time with him. 

“That’s a great question. You know, across the league, most offensive coordinators, they interact with the quarterback, the starting quarterback for the most part. We do have a group of coaches that have quarterback backgrounds, but I would say overall it would be AVP (Alex Van Pelt) as far as that lead guy.”

Mayo was also asked if there is a division of labor of sorts when it comes to developing Maye. 

“That’s a great question. There has to be balance there, you don’t want Drake hearing too many voices. Once again, that’s why I’m saying that AVP (Alex Van Pelt) will be the lead guy as far as that communication with Drake.”

One of the voices that Maye will also be hearing from is senior offensive assistant Ben McAdoo who is highly regarded for his work with quarterbacks and offenses. Mayo has also leaned on him for his overall experience.

“Ben has tremendous experience. He has coached every position on the offensive side of the ball, so he was one of those catch-all players, just in case, as we started to build out the coaching staff. He has a great history, great background. He also helps me with some of the scheduling stuff, almost like an assistant head coach type of role there. But I do have a small circle of people I lean on as far as that is concerned.”

The Patriots have the right infrastructure in place to support Maye. It is way too early to talk about first impressions and his development. That conversation should be happening later on this summer, not on Mother’s Day weekend. 

Do not read too much into what Mayo said this weekend. Maye needs to walk before he runs.  Right now, he is crawling. Give it time.