FOXBORO — Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye has picked up a valuable lesson from his veteran center, David Andrews.

“It’s never too good, it’s never too bad,” meaning, things are never as bad or good as they might initially look on the field.

So, when the rookie QB was struggling early in the week when the Patriots first put on the pads Monday and Tuesday, it might not have all been as bad as it looked. And when Maye showed significant improvement Thursday and Friday after an off-day Wednesday, there’s still probably plenty more for the rookie to work on.

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But Maye did look dramatically better Friday compared to the Patriots’ padded sessions early in the week. He was 9-of-12 overall in competitive team drills and 6-of-7 in 11-on-11s.

Maye added some context after practice, noting that the Patriots were working on some difficult situations early in the week.

“Just learn from it. Just not make the same mistake over and over,” Maye said. “Also, you come out here on Monday, first day in pads, we do third and long. Third and long in the NFL is tough. Our defense does a good job on third and long, and it’s tough on the offense. But at the same time, watching the little things and focusing on the little things. That’s what this position is. Being the quarterback, you’ve gotta do the little things right.”

It sounds like veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett was pushing Maye to focus on the little things after his early-week struggles, as well.

“Keep going, man. It’s a long training camp,” Brissett said when asked about his message to Maye earlier in the week. “I think you always want someone to come out there and be like, ‘man, be the best you can be right now.’ But that’s just unrealistic. I think the best thing he’s doing is putting one foot in front of the other, going back out there, going out there and competing and the plays are going to make themselves. It’s all about the little things day in and day out, that’s going to give you the chance to make the right play.”

The Patriots went run-heavy on Maye’s first 11-on-11 period. He handed off three times before completing a play-action pass to tight end Mitchell Wilcox in the flat. He then scrambled on his next and final snap of his turn in 11s.

He was 2-of-3 in his next 11-on-11 period, not including two spikes, completing a pass on an out route to wide receiver DeMario Douglas and a check-down to Wilcox. His incompletion came on his first throw when cornerback Azizi Hearn ran wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster’s route for him and broke up Maye’s pass.

Maye shined during a 7-on-7 drill in the red zone, going 3-of-5 with two touchdowns. He completed a short pass on a return route by rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk. He then delivered an accurate pass to rookie wide receiver Javon Baker who only got one foot in bounds with cornerback Isaiah Bolden in tight coverage. It appeared that Baker could have got a second foot down on the play. Maye then hit wide receiver Kayshon Boutte for a toe-tapping touchdown by the front right pilon and tight end La’Michael Pettway in stride in the back corner of the end zone for back-to-back scores. Maye finished the series with an incompletion to Smith-Schuster.

“Red-zone is all about accuracy, fitting it in tight windows, being on time, that matters,” Maye said. “The more, sometimes, some of these throws, it’s the first time throwing a route against a real guy. That’s what it is, getting chemistry and building chemistry and getting guys in there and learning how they run routes and timing. I think we’re hitting a groove and just gotta keep it going.”

Maye was 3-of-3 in his next turn during 11-on-11s, completing passes on a curl route by Polk, a comeback by wide receiver Jalen Reagor and a drag by Baker. Maye fielded a bad snap by third-string center Atonio Mafi, leading to a broken play on the third snap of that period. Maye finished things out 1-of-2 with a completion on an out route by rookie running back Terrell Jennings and a batted pass by linebacker Christian Elliss.

Brissett was active during team drills, completing 16-of-26 passes and going 12-of-21 in 11-on-11 drills with two drops. He made some highlight throws during 7-on-7s, hitting Douglas on a seam route with perfect touch and completing a pass to veteran wideout K.J. Osborn on a corner route over cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

Brissett took 11 straight snaps during a two-minute drills period of 11-on-11s and went 6-of-11, completing deep passes to Douglas and tight end Hunter Henry.

Rookie Joe Milton III only took three snaps during team drills, going 0-of-1 while taking a sack and handing off once. Bailey Zappe, who’s competing for a roster spot with Milton, didn’t get any work in team drills.

Maye said he’s not focused on his competition with Brissett during practice. The veteran still looks to have a leg up on the rookie, but Maye is at least making the competition more entertaining over the last two days with impressive showings in practice.