Patriots QB strongly balks at his best chance to see the field in New England

For now, the New England Patriots see Joe Milton as a quarterback. Yes, he was a quarterback during his college career at Tennessee and at Michigan before that, but let's just say accuracy was never his forte in the games themselves. When the spotlights are off, he is everything you could hope for as a quarterback prospect. When it is show time, Milton will drill his own guard in the head with a football.

Truth be told, Milton finds himself in a great situation with New England. He will be backing up Drake Maye and at least initially, Jacoby Brissett. Milton will be groomed by new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, possibly mentored by Brissett. However, his best option for getting on the field any time soon may be to switch positions. He is a mega-athlete, so it has to be considered. Will he swallow his pride?

Of course, when asked about it by an inquiring reporter, Milton seemed to laugh the question off.

"You are the first person I have actually heard that from, to be real with you. But, that will never happen," Milton said.

The good news for Milton is his head coach Jerod Mayo also happens to think he is a quarterback.

"Yeah, we'll have to see how that plays out once we put the pads on, but we drafted him as a quarterback. We're in the business of trying to get good football players through the door, and Milton happens to be one of them. Obviously, he understands we took a quarterback at three in Drake (Maye)."

Competition is key for everyone in New England, but you have to wonder if Milton will be developed.

Patriots QB Joe Milton reluctant to switch positions after being drafted

Look. If anybody can get the most out of his incredible talent, it would have to be Van Pelt. Keep in mind where Milton played at in college. Although Michigan is the reigning national champion, the Wolverines were not exactly firing on all cylinders when Milton was their starting quarterback. It may have been during COVID, but the 2020 Wolverines won exactly zero home games during that season.

At Tennessee, Milton went to a team where putting up a ton of yards and stats in Josh Heupel's offense sure is easy. However, it has quickly proven to be a hard scheme to adjust from at the next level. The route trees receivers are asked to run are very limited. It is very much of the Air Raid variety. Milton's growth may have been stifled a bit having played for the Volunteers recently.

The good news is again, he is in a situation with an excellent quarterbacks coach, one who is keen on mechanics in Van Pelt. He also goes to a team with a future coach or front-office executive in the same quarterback room as him in Brissett. Everybody loves the guy. People like Milton, too. All in all, I would say that the vibes are in a far better spot in New England than they were this time a year ago.

I may still think that Milton needs to change positions, but I would love to be proven wrong in that.