Bill O’Brien Offers Stance On Patriots’ Development Plan For Drake Maye

The New England Patriots took a cautious preseason approach with rookie quarterback Drake Maye by limiting the organization’s third overall selection in this year’s NFL draft to six snaps against the Carolina Panthers.

Current Boston College Eagles head coach Bill O’Brien, who last season served as New England’s offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, doesn’t necessarily agree with the Maye approach. In fact, O’Brien feels as though the Patriots aren’t doing justice by the North Carolina product as the 54-year-old believes there’s only one true way to develop an inexperienced quarterback in his first NFL campaign.

“Preseason games, I’ll just be honest with you, they don’t really mean a whole lot,” O’Brien said during a recent appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.” “The reason why I say that is that both sides of the ball in preseason aren’t really doing a whole lot. … For that reason alone, you should probably try to get, in my opinion, a rookie quarterback a bunch of reps because you’re playing pretty vanilla offense and defense.”

O’Brien added: “I don’t think there’s any other way to learn than by actually doing it. I don’t think you learn by standing next to the coach on the sideline. I think you actually learn by going out there and experiencing it and dealing with pressures and dealing with the different things that go into getting ready for a game.”

Based on the way Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo utilized Maye during Thursday night’s preseason follow-up against the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium, maybe New England considered O’Brien’s advice from afar. Maye rushed for his first touchdown in a Patriots uniform and competed 6-of-11 passes for 47 yards while playing two quarters in the 14-13 loss to Philadelphia — a performance that impressed Mayo.

Considering what ex-quarterback Mac Jones endured throughout his exit season with the Patriots last year, it’s unlikely Maye will get thrown into the fire unless the Patriots feel the 21-year-old is ready. Mayo already made it clear that New England’s “under construction” offensive line — a primary weakness in last season’s 4-13 team — played a factor in Maye’s playing time against the Panthers.