Drake Maye's offseason development has left Alex Van Pelt impressed

FOXBORO -- Drake Maye's first summer in the NFL is all about new experiences. The third overall pick by the Patriots has a lot to learn and a lot to work on as he navigates his first weeks and months as a professional, but so far, his coaches are pleased with the progress from the 21-year-old.

Maye's progress and hard work led to a bump up the New England depth chart at Tuesday's OTA practice in Foxboro. Jacoby Brissett still took the top reps for the team at quarterback, but Maye was right behind him as the No. 2 QB.  At previous OTA sessions open to the media, Maye was taking snaps behind veteran Bailey Zappe. 

He's still expected to start the season as Brissett's backup, but on Tuesday, Maye said that he's further ahead than he thought he would be at this point. He said that he's got the gist of New England's terminology and formations, and is now working on commanding the huddle and calling plays out in a timely fashion.

"It's the little things of playing quarterback," he told reporters. "Not as much as making throws."

With mandatory minicamp kicking off next week, Maye said the offseason program has been "awesome" so far. He's doing his best impression of a sponge and trying to soak up everything he can from veteran players on the roster, including Brissett and Zappe, and non-quarterback veterans like Hunter Henry, David Andrews, and Chukwuma Okorafor.

"It's exciting to be out here. This is fun," he said.

As for his own progress, Maye believes he's gotten better every day. It certainly helps that he's going up against a strong defense like New England's whenever he hits the practice field. 

"I think our defense does a great job disguising and bringing different blitzes, so we're getting great work out here in practice. Our defense makes it tough on us, especially in the red zone," said Maye. "There are some throws I wish I had back and some throws I felt pretty good about. So I'll just take it one day at a time. That's the good thing about having film out here; you can go back and learn from it and hopefully not do it again the next time."

New England offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt spoke with reporters ahead of Tuesday's practice, and praised the work -- and progress -- from Maye so far this offseason. He singled out changes to Maye's footwork, which was a concern with the quarterback coming out of the draft.

"It's big to come in and completely change your footwork, but we did and he's embraced it," Van Pelt said of the rookie QB.

Maye said that the biggest adjustment is the timing of his footwork depending on the play-call. He's becoming more and more comfortable with the changes by the day, but it remains a work in progress. 

"Progress" will be a key word surrounding Maye throughout his rookie campaign. Van Pelt stressed that patience will be key with the quarterback. But so far, Maye has left his new offensive coordinator impressed with both his work ethic and progress on the field.

"He's come out, he's taken everything from the classroom, everything from our individual periods, and he's applied them to the team drills. He's been impressive so far," said Van Pelt. "The biggest things we're working with him right now, obviously, calling plays from the huddle, which is new to a lot of these college guys, and then just playing in rhythm and in time with your feet. That's the biggest strides I'd say he's made the last few weeks."

Van Pelt made it clear that Brissett is the team's starter, and that Maye will not be rushed into action. He will get the call when he is ready for the moment, and not a second sooner.

"We always talk about earning your reps around here. So as he continues to grow and have successful practices and start stacking those, then we can think about moving him up the depth chart," Van Pelt said of Maye. "But it's a process and it's a marathon, so we're going to take our time and do it the right way."

While Maye continued to show progress during Tuesday's practice, it was a tough day overall for the offense. The rookie threw a pair of picks, while Brissett and the first-team struggled against New England's dominant defense. When the Brissett-led offense failed to get into the end zone at the end of the day, they were forced to do pushups.

OTAs will wrap up this week, and things will then ramp up for the Patriots with mandatory minicamp from June 10-12.