The reports coming out of New England suggest a productive summer for Patriots rookie quarterback Joe Milton.
Milton was drafted by the Patriots with a flier in the sixth round and is now undergoing his first NFL summer training camp. Milton’s teammate in the quarterback room, though, is third-overall pick Drake Maye from North Carolina.
The Patriots are moving on from the Mac Jones experiment and believe that Maye is the player to get the organization back to a successful point. But with the uncertainty that surrounds any quarterback and a shallow quarterback room, the Patriots opted to grab the massive-armed Milton from Tennessee as well.
But through the first few practices, it looks as though the sixth-rounder is making more positive noise than the first-rounder.
The Boston Globe Patriots reporter Ben Volin raved about Milton’s performance on Tuesday night:
“I wrote after last Thursday’s practice that Milton is the ‘wow’ quarterback at camp — the guy with the best size, best athleticism, and biggest arm,” Volin wrote. “Now I’ll take it a step further: Milton outplayed Maye over the first six practices of camp. You can’t tell which player is the No. 3 overall pick (Maye) and which is the sixth-round flier (Milton).”
Fellow Boston Globe reporter Christopher Price was impressed by Milton’s performance in the red zone on Tuesday as he threw touchdowns on back-to-back attempts while Maye did not record a passing touchdown.
“The rookie out of Tennessee went 3 for 5 in his 11-on-11 reps, a stretch that was highlighted by red zone touchdown passes to [Ja’Lynn] Polk and JuJu Smith-Schuster that set off celebrations,” Price wrote. “Milton still has issues with consistency in the short and intermediate game, but by and large, he has surpassed many expectations to this point.”
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Several reports have pointed to disappointing inconsistency from the third overall pick. While it doesn’t look like anyone in New England is legitimately calling for Milton’s number already, the former Vol does bring a lot of excitement to the table as a quarterback prospect: a huge arm, a massive frame, and a hold-your-breathe-on-every-play type of skillset.
Milton and Maye do look to be stirring up plenty of conversation with their play, though. The Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan refuted the idea that Milton has been better than Maye despite some impressive moments from Milton and some “uncomfortable” moments from Maye.
“There’s nothing really great to say about the last three days [for Maye] but on balance he has been better than Joe Milton,” Callahan said during an interview with NBC Sports Boston on Wednesday.
Former Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo was promoted to Patriots’ head coach during the offseason and faces the tough task of developing a franchise quarterback. Price’s reporting on Tuesday shows one example of Mayo’s coaching style during a situation involving Maye and the offense.
“There were multiple reasons for Maye’s accuracy issues, including an amped-up defense that was hell-bent on keeping the offense out of the end zone near the end of practice,” Price wrote. “Jerod Mayo laid it on the line in one 11-on-11 red zone rep near the end of the workout: The loser had to do pushups. When a Maye pass for Javon Baker was knocked away by Shaun Wade, the offense dropped down for 10.”
Here’s a look at some of the clips of former Vol Joe Milton coming out of the early days of New England Patriots training camp:
.@Patriots rookie QB Joe Milton III is pretty athletic. 👀 @Qbjayy7pic.twitter.com/2dlNDOwzn1
— NFL (@NFL) July 30, 2024
The DIFFERENCE in arm strength between Drake Maye and Joe Milton.
There’s strong and then there’s Joe Milton STRONG 😳 pic.twitter.com/Gj4S94mDkX
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) July 31, 2024
