Kendrick Bourne: Drake Maye's competitive spirit is starting to show more

After selecting Drake Maye at No. 3 overall last year, the Patriots have provided the young quarterback with a new head coach, a new offensive coordinator, and new weapons to help his success in 2025.

But one of New England’s veteran receivers has been with the club for several years and has noticed a difference in Maye during the offseason program.

“The confidence is there, maybe even more confidence,” receiver Kendrick Bourne said on Tuesday, via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. “He’s just — obviously, he’s gonna be in a new system. So I think he’s in that process. He’s learning. But the confidence is there. Drake is a competitor.

“When we do certain things, like his competitive spirit is starting to show more, in my opinion, which I love. Coming out of that shell, you know, he’s gonna become a vet. So I think that’s what he’s embracing. He understands. He’s familiar with what to expect, what to feel, and that just creates a better, confident quarterback going into Year 2.”

As an example, Bourne pointed to a workout early on in the offseason program where Maye encouraged the receiver to keep pushing a weight sled. Bourne noted that kind of thing motivates the team to be better.

“We want to beat each other in a race, or whatever it is, conditioning and things like that,” Bourne said. “When you do things and he just competes, and you love to see that from the quarterback.”

We’ll see how those things translate to the field later on this year, but for now, it sounds like Maye is progressing in making the jump from Year 1 to Year 2.