Maye Looks to Build on Personal Game Amidst Patriots’ Team Struggles
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye performed admirably across his first two regular-season starts. Still, he couldn’t prevent the New England Patriots from falling to 1-6 on what appears to be a lost campaign for the organization ahead of Halloween.
During a Monday appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI, Maye spoke about helping teammates in ways that go beyond tossing touchdown passes and extending plays with his legs.
A rumor emerged before the Patriots lost a sixth straight game claiming their locker room was allegedly “teetering on mutiny.” First-year head coach Jerod Mayo may have made a difficult situation worse when he said, coming off this past Sunday’s 32-16 defeat against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London, that he felt New England is “a soft football team.” Per NESN’s Adam London, Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones acknowledged during a Monday afternoon appearance on WEEI that he didn’t “think we have any space to call ourselves a tough team based off our last performance.”
Maye finding his voice as a 22-year-old quarterback won’t fix the Patriots’ weaknesses at playmaker positions and on their offensive line. That said, he could keep at least some teammates from making “business decisions” with the Patriots essentially already out of the postseason hunt if he can show with his play and other traits that New England made the right choice by selecting him with the third overall pick of this year’s draft.
“Think of those guys up front — keep pumping them up,” Maye added about being more outspoken during the segment. “They‘re fighting their butts off all game and oftentimes don‘t get the credit that they deserve.”
Thus far, Maye has completed 50-of-78 total pass attempts (64.1%) for 541 yards with five touchdowns, two interceptions and eight sacks taken this season. He’s also rushed for 68 yards on 10 attempts.
As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Patriots as seven-point underdogs for this coming Sunday’s home game against the 2-5 New York Jets.
