Rob Gronkowski Calls Patriots' Decision to Limit Drake Maye 'Weird'

The New England Patriots' decision to sit Drake Maye raised some eyebrows across the league.

August 8, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) hands the ball to running back Antonio Gibson (21) during the first half against the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots capped off their first preseason bout with a strong showing and a win vs. the Carolina Panthers, 17-3, but it's safe to say that the end result of the game has not been the most prominent chatter surrounding this squad.

Mainly, the talk around the Patriots after their exhibition matchup has been centric on Drake Maye and his limited opportunities on the field during his debut. While he entered the game with expectations of being an integral part of the gameplan, head coach Jerod Mayo and the rest of New England's staff ended up cutting his day short after six snaps, putting Bailey Zappe under center for the next drive.

All in all, it was just one drive that we got to see within this Patriots offense, which made for a bit of a letdown for the team's top-three pick of this year's draft. As a result, we've already seen some prominent names around the NFL come out to raise some questions over Thursday's events.

Of those names, former Patriots tight end and four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski was one of them.

Gronkowski appeared on FS1's First Things First on Friday, where he gave some of his thoughts on New England's preseason contest against the Panthers, ultimately dubbing New England's choice to pull out Drake Maye "weird," while still trusting the plan head coach Jerod Mayo has put in place.

"I think Drake Maye did a job well done for the six plays that he played, but you can't evaluate him off of those six plays. I mean, he threw like two, or three passes. Didn't really have the opportunity to show what he has. It's a little weird to me that he only played six plays. I mean, he's the third pick overall. You've got to see what he has. You've got to be able to show that he's good to go when his time is called this season. But, Mayo had a plan, and if that was the plan, that's totally understandable."

- Rob Gronkowski, via First Things First

.@RobGronkowski says the Patriots need to get rid of Bailey Zappe 👀

"He's taking away reps from Drake Maye and Joe Milton. Bailey Zappe is not going to be on that team by the end of training camp." pic.twitter.com/DPcjR3xq9X

— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) August 9, 2024

While it was limited, Maye didn't have any trouble during his time in the game for the first quarter. He finished completing two of his three passes for 19 yards, and while both receptions came off of short screen passes, he did about what was expected considering the opportunity in place.

Instead, it was Bailey Zappe who took home a large chunk of the offensive snaps for the Patriots, as he completed 12 of his 20 passes for 108 yards, then being subbed out for New England's other rookie quarterback in Joe Milton III for the final two drives of the game, who made some highlight plays in his own right.

Maye's short stint on the field could be attributed to a couple of factors, whether that be the poor conditions on the field during a rainy preseason matchup or even Mayo's hesitancy to throw his young quarterback behind his backup offensive line, yet when you ask the coach himself, Maye and Jacoby Brissett's one and only drive was simply "always the plan."

The good news for Maye is that his chances to play moving forward are looking to trend up as we move into next week's preseason game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. According to coach Mayo, the Patriots rookie should see "more reps" than his first showing against the Panthers, as well as some extensive time on the practice field during New England's training camp through the week.

It remains to be seen what those mentioned reps will look like for Maye next Thursday against the Eagles, but if this game against Carolina showed anything, the only way is up.

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