FOXBOROUGH — After Jerod Mayo offered health caveats when explaining the plan for Drake Maye against the Bills, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was more direct on Thursday morning.

Though a loss against Buffalo would secure the No. 1 overall pick in next spring’s NFL Draft, Van Pelt said the plan is definitively for Maye to start. The rookie quarterback popped up on Wednesday’s injury report with a new throwing hand issue — the Patriots listed him as limited — but Van Pelt said that shouldn’t affect anything.

“Drake looked good (Wednesday). He’s ready to go. He’ll be starting the game for sure,” Van Pelt said. “I’m excited to get another opportunity… more opportunities for him to grow. This gives him an opportunity to go out and play a team we just played two weeks ago. Have a good understanding of what they did in our game and see how well we respond in this game.”

Is the plan for Maye to play the entire game?

“We’re playing the game to win the game for sure. We’ll see how it goes from that point. But yes, that’s the intention,” Van Pelt replied.

Van Pelt added that Joe Milton III did take some snaps with the offense on Wednesday, so he could be elevated to the backup role for the season finale.

The sixth-rounder out of Tennessee has served as the emergency third quarterback for New England’s first 16 games.