Welcome to the Friday Five!

Each week during the NFL regular season, I will drop five Patriots-related thoughts on Friday to recap the week that was in Foxboro and look ahead to kickoff.

Ready, set, football.

1. Drake Maye’s unique trait

The fact Drake Maye is taking 30% of the Patriots’ starting quarterback reps in practice has raised eyebrows around the league and among those following the team.

But it’s the snaps Maye sees on scout team, where he simulates the upcoming quarterback on the Patriots’ schedule and competes head-to-head with their starting defense, that has coaches’ attention.

“He has such a good understanding of different schemes and what people are doing, for a rookie in this league, it’s like he’s been around a long time and seen a lot of offenses, seen a lot of quarterbacks,” Pats outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins said. “I think he’s unique in that way. Like, that’s not something that’s very common in the league that a guy’s that conscientious.

“(He) wants to know about a team’s protection rules for the (scout) team, things like that. Like, these are rare traits.”

Maye’s physical traits – the rocket arm, plus mobility and prototypical size – were among the chief reasons the Patriots drafted him No. 3 overall. Thanks to his growing grasp of NFL offense, those skills are now shining on the field.

Fellow rookie quarterback Joe Milton recounted a throw Maye made on Wednesday, reading out a favorite 49ers high-low concept that led to an explosive pass to Kayshon Boutte on the opposite side after he’d baited the safety into jumping his first read.

“The safety was just in the middle of the field, and (Maye) dropped back, looked to the right, and the safety just flew over there,” Milton told the Herald. “Barely looking, he came back and threw the backside dig route. (It was) 18 yards, and we always get (excited) for that, because it’s hard to manipulate sometimes at quarterback.”

Or, as Pats defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington said: “I think (Maye)’s earning the trust and respect of his teammates.”

Working with the scout team, Milton has also made splash plays. More on that later.

2. Barmore, keeping busy

It’s a long-standing Patriots tradition: Friday Funny.

At the end of the last defensive meeting of the week, a coach or player plays a laugh-out-loud clip from a movie or TV show to end the week on a high note. Nowadays, they’re often pulled from Instagram or Tiktok.

In past years, a young assistant was tasked with pulling up the Friday Funny on the projector screen. Now, it’s a core player Jerod Mayo is trying to keep involved: Christian Barmore.

“(Barmore) has projects that he’s working on, a bunch of those things,” Mayo said this week.

According to teammates, Barmore — one of the more boisterous players on the team — is crushing it. Coaches agree.

“Strong, strong videos,” Wilkins said. “Post-playing career, he could have a future in video editing there.”

Barmore has also been working out, according to a source, while the team continues to work him back from his blood clots diagnosis two months ago.

3. Play-action power-up

As they self-scouted last week, the Patriots took a good, hard look at their play-action pass game.

Jacoby Brissett has gone just 10-of-16 for 126 yards on play-action passes, while taking two sacks and posting a passer rating of 87.0, per Pro Football Focus. Normally, play-action numbers are appreciably higher than those born from standard dropback passes, and especially for quarterbacks leading run-first offenses. Yet Patriots opponents have yet to allow a single deep completion, most of which are designed to come off play-action in Alex Van Pelt’s offense.

According to Brissett, the Patriots believe they can crack defenses by running more play-action off their most effective run plays.

“Over the last couple days we’ve done a good job with the quote-unquote ‘self-scout’ to be able to say, ‘Hey, these are the runs that we’re good at, and these are the ones that teams know that we’re good at and we’re going to try and sell plays off of,” he said.

So what are those run plays? According to Sports Info. Solutions, of all the run schemes the Patriots have called at least five times, their highest yards per carry averages have come on duo (6.3) and inside zone (5.2).

4. The challenge of Kyle Shanahan

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is one of the NFL’s finest play-callers and offensive minds.

Which means on paper, Mayo’s staff should be at a disadvantage Sunday, even with extra time to prepare coming off last week’s Thursday night loss. So what makes Shanahan such a tough matchup?

According to Mayo’s defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach, it’s a mix of age-old schemes and excellent scouting.

“This is decades and decades, an offense that was built over time,” Covington said. “So you can look back to when his dad ran the offense, and the coaching tree that he has throughout the NFL, I have mad respect for the way that they run offense; the style that they do and the running game, the complements, the motions, the passing game, everything they do.”

Wilkins added: “They self-scout themselves really well, so they understand what their tendencies are in a four or five or six-game period. And then they have the counterpunch off that. And I think that’s something they’re conscientious of formationally, play-call-wise, all those things they do a good job of not having tendencies.”

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5. Milton’s no-look throws

OK, back to Milton.

According to the cannon-armed rookie, he hit three no-look completions Wednesday, while helping simulate 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy in practice. Milton, who may own the strongest arm in the NFL, detailed one to the Herald on Thursday. He explained how he hit a deep throw down the right sideline, up and over the nearest safety who was supposed to be back deep in Cover 2.

“It takes practice, but I have trust and confidence in myself,” he said. “I saw the routes on the paper, and thought if I’m sending this (receiver) in motion, he’s got a go route, and it’s Cover 2, the only thing I’ve got to do is hold the safety. And the corner, he press-bailed (in coverage) and then sat in zone, and I just looked at the safety, turned my helmet a little bit and let it go.

“And he just stood flat-footed because he couldn’t do anything. He didn’t know exactly where I was throwing the ball.”