While Drake Maye is Dominating Patriots Camp, Joe Milton is Throwing Shade at His Former Teammates

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

Let's begin with the biggest and best news of the first few days of Patriots Training Camp. (I'll put a pin in the Friday practices for now, since they're mostly just doing walk-throughs.) And that is the fact Drake Maye is utterly tearing Mike Vrabel's defense into little pieces, setting fire to them, and then scattering the ashes:

Both on the field:

… and off:

Now sure, you can dismiss this as not at all important in the grand scheme of things. You can say that completion % in practices mean nothing. And point out that anyone can complete and absolute dime to even a second year receiver who was a historical disappointment in his rookie season. And if that's you, I'm going to kindly suggest you find some way to bring joy into your life. Take a walk. Touch a tree. Get up and watch the sunrise over the ocean and appreciate that you have a place in God's grand creation. Because just dismissing everything is not the path to happiness and fulfillment and I pity you. 

But more to the point, you have to bear in mind that the sort of performances Maye has been put on simply do not happen in Pats camp. Certainly not in the last five camps. And even when Tom Brady was under center, being insanely hyper-competitive and wanting to degrade and humiliate his defensive teammates, practically never in the early days of camp. Year after year, we'd all be coming away from the first week or so of practices saying, "The defense is ahead of the offense. Brady was frustrated. No one was getting open. Particularly in the red zone, where there's less room to cover." It was practically something you could write days ahead of time, and have ready to post when it came true. 

I tended to dismiss the early camp struggles as a reflection of how complicated Josh McDaniels' scheme is. How the calls and adjustments of the McOffense need time to master. And with roster turnover being what it is, in July there are going to be a lot of guys still figuring out where to line up and which option route to run. And then the last five camps, the excuse was much simpler. "Our offense blows." 

But not this time. Maye has come prepared after and offseason of work. Newcomers like Stefon Diggs and Kyle Williams are on the business ends of his throws. And it's the defense that's playing catch-up. And it is a glorious thing to behold. Appreciate this.

Of course, not everyone agrees that everything is going swell. Maye's fellow 2024 Pats quarterback has nothing nice to say. In fact, Joe Milton III is going out of his way to air grievances with his former teammates to anyone in Dallas who'll listen:

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Ouch. I mean, it's not clear if he's referring to Maye or Jacoby Brissett. On the one hand, Maye was not only also a rookie, he's three years younger and had fewer starts in college than Milton. But if Milton nevertheless wanted to be mentored by him, all the better. That's a testament to Maye's abilities and leadership. If he's bitching about Brissett, that would contradict everything we've ever heard about the veteran. In fact, he was brought in here on a one-year deal specifically to be that guy who shows the young QBs how to prepare to do their jobs. That's why he was installed as a team captain. Based on his production, it certainly wasn't for his arm. 

Regardless, this just makes the case for why Vrabel and Eliot Wolf opted to trade Milton for a Sky Miles on their credit card. This is clearly a man who has an over-inflated opinion of himself after being a 6th round pick and having one career start (against a Buffalo team that was trying as hard as it could not to win). This is not an attitude you want walking into your QB meetings every day. 

Joe Milton has bad things to say about his time in New England? New England doesn't think about him at all. 

The QB1 job in Foxboro has been filled, thanks. But no thanks. Have a good career, Bazooka Joe.