Training camp stock watch: Maye, Brissett continue to trend in opposite directions originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO — It’s a game week. Sort of.
Patriots coach Jerod Mayo explained on Wednesday that the team will prepare for its Sunday night preseason game with the Washington Commanders by going through three practices this week in a manner similar to the way game-week practices will be approached in the regular season.
But it’s a “hybrid” week, Mayo said. That means the evaluations of players are ongoing as Mayo and Eliot Wolf prepare to put together their initial 53-man active roster. And those evaluations will include that quarterback spot, where there has been no starter decision made, according to Mayo. That should come by Monday night or Tuesday, Mayo said.
It certainly looks like the Patriots are leaning in one direction when it comes to their upcoming quarterback decision, which we’ll get to in our latest edition of Stock Watch…
Stock up
Drake Maye, quarterback
The rookie quarterback continues to trend in the right direction. Over the course of the last two weeks, Maye has looked like the most decisive and accurate quarterback on the Patriots roster.
He saw just three reps with starting center David Andrews on Wednesday, but that represented a shift, as he has not taken competitive snaps with the starting offensive line yet in practice. (He has worked with Andrews and other starters in preseason games.)
And it wasn’t just his practice usage that was worthy of attention. His play was rock solid, completing his first six competitive passes and having his next two passes hit the hands of his intended targets before falling incomplete. One Maye deep shot bounced off DeMario Douglas’ mitts. That might’ve been his best throw of the day, thanks in part to the fact he had to field a bad snap from backup center Nick Leverett before surveying the defense.
A shorter throw glanced off Jaheim Bell’s hands before bouncing off the turf. He went 6-for-8 in competitive periods, taking one sack.
Caedan Wallace, offensive tackle
Vederian Lowe — the team’s top left tackle for the vast majority of camp — left the session with what looked like a torso injury to reporters in attendance. Wallace filled in and seemed to hold up well. He also got the better of Anfernee Jennings in a one-on-one rep and later made quick work of rookie edge rusher Jotham Russell.
If Lowe has to miss time, it looks like Wallace is the first choice to fill in.
Joey Slye, kicker
The kicker competition might’ve been effectively ended on Wednesday. Slye made all four of his kicks, from 35, 42, 49 and 51 yards away. Chad Ryland (who we’ll get to later) is trending in the opposite direction.
Stock down
Jacoby Brissett, quarterback
The veteran’s first pass in 11-on-11 work against the scout-team defense was underthrown and picked relatively easily by rookie reserve corner Marcellas Dial. On Brissett’s last competitive throw of the practice, he attempted a pass for Javon Baker into a crowded middle of the field that was broken up (and probably should’ve been picked) by safety A.J. Thomas.
Overall, Brissett went 3-for-6 with a pick and a sack.
Vederian Lowe, offensive tackle
Lowe being out could lead to Wallace getting more work, as mentioned above, but his absence could also prompt a shuffling that would kick Mike Onwenu out to right tackle, Chukwuma Okorafor over to left tackle and Layden Robinson into the starting lineup at right guard.
Robinson has impressed lately, with Mayo saying of the fourth-round pick on Wednesday, “He’s strung a few weeks together here.”
Robinson has seen some first-team reps in recent weeks, filling in at times for left guard Sidy Sow.
Chad Ryland, kicker
Ryland made his 35-yard attempt on Wednesday but missed his next three. According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, Ryland is now trailing Slye when it comes to competitive kicks over the course of the summer, making 36 of his 47 attempts. Slye, by comparison, has made 40 of his 48, per Reiss.
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