The New England Patriots have high hopes for Drake Maye, their third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, entering his rookie season.

Patriots fans and North Carolina Tar Heels fans alike, also have high hopes for Maye. New England hopes their prized rookie can be its next great franchise quarterback, while us UNC fans hope Maye's NFL career pans out better than Mitch Trubisky's.

Rookies typically play in the NFL Preseason, with Maye being no exception. There were recent reports, however, that Maye might not play in the Patriots' preseason opener on Thursday, Aug. 8 against the Carolina Panthers.

Maye's head coach, Jerod Mayo, put those reports to sleep earlier on Tuesday.

In a Training Camp interview, Mayo confirmed that Maye will play Thursday night.

New England also has presumptive starter Jacoby Brissett, sixth-round draft pick Joe Milton and Bailey Zappe, who started several games a season ago, on its roster. I bet all will see some fraction of playing time on Thursday.

Maye faced a tall task entering his redshirt freshman season at North Carolina in 2022, replacing another program great in Sam Howell, whom the Washington Commanders chose in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

After that 2022 season, Maye was the ACC Rookie and Player of the Year. At the conclusion of 2023, Maye played himself into a first round NFL Draft pick.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire : Jerod Mayo confirms Drake Maye will play in preseason opener