Drake Maye: The Patriots’ Iron Man: Patriots’ QB Plays Through Injury Scare in Chargers Blowout
The New England Patriots’ 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers was a debacle, and it could have been even worse. On the team’s third offensive snap of the day, quarterback Drake Maye absorbed a head-to-head collision on a scramble.
Maye immediately went into the blue medical tent, and later left the field entirely to head to the locker room. However, his absence was a brief one: he cleared the concussion check and returned to the game in the early second quarter after having missed a total of three plays.
“Just kind of got my bell rung on the first drive,” Maye later explained. “I don’t know if any of y’all ever played and you got hit, but sometimes you get your bell rung, and you’ve got to shake back. I guess the spotter called down again and had to pass some tests. I feel good, I still feel good, and then I was good to go.”
Maye went 5-for-5 for 66 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown to DeMario Douglas, in the first half. However, the Patriots were ultimately unable to hang with the Chargers and by the early fourth quarter found themselves in a 37-7 hole.
Despite the deficit and Maye’s injury scare earlier in the game, however, the rookie remained in the game for two more drives. Both ended in a three-and-out, but it was still somewhat surprising to see New England send its quarterback out there after the Chargers had a) built an unassailable lead and b) pulled their own QB.
“I wanted to be in the game. I want to be out there with those guys,” Maye later explained. “If our guys are out there, I want to be out there with them. Shoot, may see something that may help us next week out there. …
“At the end of the day, those guys up front, they’re battling their butts off. So, I’m not going to be out there and go to the coach and say, ‘Hey, take me out.’ That’s not me.”
His coach, Jerod Mayo, saw no flaw with that logic after the game had ended.
