Drake Maye limited again, Patriots “hopeful” about availability Sunday

FOXBORO — New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye appears to be progressing through concussion protocol and could be in line to return Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. Maye was on the field again for Thursday’s practice in Foxboro and led quarterbacks drills at the start of the session.
Maye was at practice in a limited capacity on Wednesday and did not make any throws while reporters were present. He was limited again on Thursday, but went through his usual warmup and was back to leading the charge for New England as soon as practice kicked off.
Maye has been in the NFL’s concussion protocol since leaving Sunday’s win over the New York Jets in the first half. There are five phases a player has to go through in the protocol before being cleared to return for full contact and game-action.
Head coach Jerod Mayo wouldn’t get into which phase Maye was in ahead of Wednesday’s practice, but the QB wasn’t on the field for the start of the session and Mayo said that Maye was going to be limited to 30 minutes. That was an indication that Maye was in Phase 3 on Wednesday.
It looks like he’s taken a step forward on Thursday, as he was on the field for the start of practice and led drills for New England. Phase 4 is “club based non-contract drills,” which is seemingly what Maye was doing on Thursday.  
IF Maye has made his way to Phase 4, all that’s in his way of starting Sunday against the Titans is “full football activity/clearance,” which is Phase 5 of the protocol. Maye will have to be cleared for full contact by New England’s team doctor, and then he must be examined by an Independent Neurological Consultant for final clearance. If he gets that, then he can practice in full and will be eligible to play on Sunday.
Mayo didn’t meet with reporters on Thursday (he’ll chat with them again on Friday) but Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt held court ahead of the practice session. He refused to discuss Maye’s status, but made it sound like things were trending in the right direction for the quarterback. 
“I’m not going to talk about injured players. He came out, did some stuff on the field, and we’ll leave it at that,” Van Pelt said ahead of Thursday’s practice. 
“Very hopeful that things go the way they’re trending,” he added.
Maye was hurt at the end of an 18-yard scramble against the Jets, when New York safety Jamien Sherwood came in from behind the quarterback and delivered a hit to the back of Maye’s helmet. While his big arm has been a welcome addition to the New England offense, Maye’s ability to run and pick up big yards stymied opposing defenses over his first three starts. 
With 113 yards on his 14 rushing attempts/scrambles, the Patriots do not want to tell Maye not to run out of fear of injury. But Van Pelt said the team has discussed better sliding techniques and having a better awareness with the 22-year-old rookie. 
“You would hate to take [running] away from a player. It’s a strength of his, being able to move out of the pocket,” said Van Pelt. “But the one thing we talked about was being safe with the slide.
“Oftentimes, you get into space and you feel like you’re clean, you can go feet first. It’s what we coach in open space, but you never know what’s coming from behind,” added Van Pelt. “The quarterbacks who avoid injury, oftentimes they find space and go head first and go down in that regard. It’s something we continue to work on with him, just understanding what’s around in those situations and ultimately we ask him going into every game to protect the ball and protect himself.”
New England’s practice report on Thursday was robust again, with 15 players limited after 13 were limited on Thursday.
Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton was a new addition to the injury report, as he was limited with an ankle injury. Linebacker Christian Elliss, tackle Vederian Lowe, and defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy were all limited on Thursday after missing Wednesday’s practice.
CB Alex Austin, AnkleS Kyle Dugger, AnkleDT Daniel Ekuale, AbdomenLB Christian Elliss, AbdomenRB Antonio Gibson, ToeCB Jonathan Jones, ShoulderG Michael Jordan, AnkleT Vederian Lowe, Ankle / ShoulderQB Drake Maye, ConcussionG Layden Robinson, AnkleDT Jaquelin Roy, NeckLB Sione Takitaki, KneeLB Jahlani Tavai, BackWR Tyquan Thornton, AnkleDE Keion White, Knee
Safety Marte Mapu (Neck) and receiver Ja’Lynn Polk (Concussion) were both full participants on Thursday after being limited on Wednesday.
We’ll get you ready for this weekend’s Patriots-Titans clash Sunday morning with Patriots GameDay at 11:30 a.m. (which you can also stream on CBSBoston.com), and switch to TV38 after the game for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!