Internal reaction to Drake Maye's struggles is not what you might think

There have been many storylines worthy of following since the Patriots returned to Foxboro two weeks ago for this year's training camp, but the most discussed topic continues to be the early struggles shown by Drake Maye during practice.

Despite looking good in the spring and countless teammates raving about him on and off the field, the narrative surrounding the young quarterback has gotten ugly in recent weeks, with some even comparing him to Mac Jones already.

Most of it can be attributed to the high expectations placed on him simply because of where he was selected in the draft, which shouldn't be entirely relevant, and due to the hype surrounding him as one of the top quarterbacks of this year's class. However, he was also the youngest and, to some analysts, one of the few needing the most development, so a few struggles at training camp shouldn't be all that surprising.

Regardless, it has become a top story in New England, with concerns about the type of quarterback Maye is and will be and whether the Patriots made a mistake by drafting him.

Fortunately, what the people outside of Gillette Stadium are saying about him is not the reaction of those who work with Maye on a daily basis, at least according to the latest reporting from Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.

Patriots coaching staff are not concerned about Drake Maye's struggles at training camp

Because it has been the talk of the town over the last two weeks, Breer made sure to share his intel regarding Maye's impression on his coaches since training camp began.

Although reporters and fans will tell you the sky is falling, Breer revealed the coaching staff are not worried about Maye's struggle thus far and are impressed with a lot of other aspects of his game that are not often discussed in the media.

"Drake Maye has had rough moments, to be sure, but New England Patriots people attribute that to him running with the second team, and how the team’s offensive line depth issue has really shown up with that group.

What’s impressed his coaches most is how good of a processor he is on the field—he can go, in his progression, from one to two to three fast, and even threw a touchdown pass to his fourth read in red-zone drills the other day. He sees things right away, and his footwork has come a long way, too. That said, to this point, Jacoby Brissett has been the best quarterback in camp."

One of the main issues regarding Maye's skill set heading into the draft focused on his footwork, so to hear that he has dramatically improved already and the team is impressed with how quickly he picks things up should put a lot of concerns at ease.

We got a glimpse of how great of a football mind he had during his cameo on the Giants' season of Hard Knocks earlier this summer, which impressed coach Brian Daboll so much that he hoped to trade up for Maye.

So, while some of the concerns are certainly valid, there is plenty to love about what Maye brings to the table and the type of player he will ultimately become, not to mention if the coaches who have worked with him since day one are not concerned, then we probably shouldn't be either.

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