Patriots
“They couldn’t pay me enough to put Drake Maye in the race.”
Drake Maye could be in trouble with this line of attack in front of him. Photo by Matthew J Lee/Globe Staff
Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky has been impressed with what he’s seen from Drake Maye so far this preseason.
And because of the progress the 21-year-old Maye has made this preseason, Orlovsky doesn’t want to have any conversations about the Patriots starting their rookie QB in the first week of the upcoming NFL season.
Although Jerod Mayo and Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt emphasized multiple times last week that veteran Jacoby Brissett is currently New England’s starting quarterback, Maye has narrowed the gap in the ongoing competition for the quarterback spot thanks to two promising preseason performances against the Eagles and Commanders.
Mayo himself has been inconsistent about Maye and his position in the pecking order compared to Brissett. On Monday morning, he acknowledged that the rookie has “outperformed” Brissett so far in the preseason.
But even though Maye is ahead of schedule in terms of development, there is a good reason New England will start the year with Brissett at quarterback in Week 1 against the Bengals.
Admittedly, this is more of an indictment of the supporting cast surrounding the New England quarterbacks than a commentary on Maye and his readiness for NFL competition.
“You couldn’t pay me enough to have Drake Maye play from the start,” Orlovsky said Monday during an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “I wouldn’t do it and I wouldn’t let anyone convince me otherwise. … If we look at it through the prism of Drake Maye — as far as his development goes, I was excited.”
“He’s changed his defensive schemes. He’s got a little bit of control and ownership of the line of scrimmage. He’s thrown the ball very well. The big mistake he made after college was his feet and the inconsistency of his feet. That’s improved so much. From that standpoint, I get it. I get it. Someone give me a good reason why I should play Drake Maye.”
Sunday’s performance against the Commanders was perhaps the clearest sign yet that New England’s current offensive personnel is not good enough to support a talent as promising as Maye.
In the first half of Sunday’s 20-10 loss to Washington, New England’s sieve-like offensive line suffered a sack on Jacoby Brissett (which resulted in a shoulder injury), four illegal lineup penalties (one of which prevented a 48-yard touchdown from Maye to KJ Osborn), three holding penalties, two bad snaps, a false start and a lost shoe for Maye after Sidy Sow stepped on his foot after a snap.
Admittedly, Washington’s second and third defenders also delivered this miserable performance.
Given Maye’s importance to New England’s hopes of building a serious team in the coming years, Orlovsky believes putting the rookie on the field in Week 1 with this current offensive formation could end in disaster.
“Are you serving yourself or are you serving the people’s desires or the desires of the organization or the fans,” Orlovsky asked. “There are three things rookie quarterbacks need to succeed in the NFL – not to mention not get ruined.”
“A good playmaker and playmaker, plus offensive line, plus skill. …They don’t have a plus offensive line or plus skill. They don’t. There’s no reason to play Drake Maye if you don’t have those three things.”
Boston.com today
Sign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox every morning.
