The New England Patriots got another taste of their rookie quarterback on Sunday night in their final preseason game of the year against the Washington Commanders – and it’s safe to say we saw another positive performance.
After Jacoby Brissett started the game, the Patriots brought Maye into the mix after his veteran counterpart suffered a shoulder injury that forced him out early, and the rookie went out to do his job.
Maye finished the night completing 13 of his 20 passes for 126 yards, rushing for his first drive, completing 5 of 6 passes and also throwing a touchdown to RB Kevin Harris. After another strong performance against the Philadelphia Eagles the week before, it’s clear that the top-3 pick is becoming increasingly comfortable in his new system.
Maye spoke at the podium after the Patriots’ 20-10 loss to the Commanders and described it as a “good feeling” to be on the field, although he still needs to improve some aspects of the game in the future:
“Yeah. You know, it was a good feeling to be out there. I think the worst part is we hurt ourselves on offense. Delays on drives and penalties and I need to get us out of the huddle quicker. Other than that, I had a snap on the ground, little things like that. I need to clean up. But at the same time, it’s a great learning experience for us and we’re getting ready for when it matters.”
– Drake Maye on the step forward
The Patriots rookie has largely fulfilled his role, but the Patriots offense has had a few issues that haven’t exactly benefited the UNC product. More specifically, it was the offensive line that had several issues during New England’s final preseason game, earning a total of 10 penalties on Sunday night, with four of those penalties stemming from alignment issues.
Despite the problems up front, the Patriots rookie handled the storm pretty well. Things looked particularly good on Mayes’ first drive on the field, which ended with Harris hitting the end zone for a six-pointer.
Maye continued to praise the guys around him for the good implementation and execution of the game, but also left room for improvement:
“Yeah, I think the guys are just doing their job. I think that’s the most important thing, execution. We’re executing the plays that we’ve been practicing all week. I find my guys, it’s my job to get them the ball. We dropped back and had a little snap and probably should have caught it. I think from there we were on second and 18. We just can’t shoot ourselves in the foot, you know, little things like that. It’s a good football team, you know, we got lucky tonight, so we just have to start better.”
– Drake Maye on the first drive TD
The Patriots were far from perfect on Sunday night, but there were a few optimistic signs. Maye is getting better every time he steps on the field and remains in with a good chance of being handed the keys to this offense a little sooner than originally expected. Brissett may be the locker room favorite to win the QB1 title, but this is far from a sure thing.
We’ll see if Maye gets a chance to start in the Patriots’ regular-season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals in two weeks.
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