ORCHARD PARK, NY — It’s a fine line rookie quarterbacks are forced to walk.
The locker room is a delicate ecosystem where leadership roles are earned over time, but a team’s starting quarterback is inherently considered a leader. Catch-22. It’s a line Mac Jones struggled with at times, but in Drake Maye the patriots to have a player who is increasingly confident in leadership at 22 years old. Maye’s play on the field can’t hurt not with that either, since he has exceeded the high expectations that come with being the third overall selection. Everyone in the New England locker room already believes in him.
Before last month’s win over the Bears, Maye asked to address the entire offense because he thought the practices had been too sloppy. He also pointed the finger. It didn’t have to be better. it was we we have to be better, and that’s how we’re going to do it.
Maye certainly has the ear of his coaches as well.
After a week full of headlines about Maye not running the football, the quarterback was also talking about it with his offensive coordinator behind closed doors. Maye was the only signal caller in the league without a designed run coming into Sunday’s loss at Buffalo, and against the Bills, his number was called four times. When asked about this week’s game plan talks, Maye made it clear his voice was heard.
“I’m a big 6-5 guy that can pick up a yard or beat somebody with some speed. I think people underestimate me a little bit,” Maye said after Sunday’s 24-21 loss. “I think it helps us offensively to move the chains. Right now, we need some help, whether it’s short yards or different areas (like now) in the red zone so he can go make plays.”
As Maye’s post-match press conference rolled into a cramped room in the bowels of Highmark Stadium, the rookie’s voice grew even louder. Jerod Mayo has found himself in the middle of a 3-12 first season, and there are still more questions about Alex Van Pelt’s job security. CBS cameras caught Jonathan Kraft criticizing his play in Arizona, and the team president still hadn’t addressed it with Van Pelt last Thursday. Much speculation followed regarding the offensive coordinator’s future.
For the first time since arriving in Foxborough, Maye actually spoke at a news conference. He has heard enough criticism of his coaching staff.
“I think it’s a bit of BS, to be quite honest,” Maye said. “Coach Mayo, we have supported him. He is training us hard. He wants to win. We all want to win. We are all frustrated. AVP has been, I think, calling it cool these (few) weeks. We are just plays away. It’s me turning the ball over. I think it’s a testament that these guys keep fighting, keep fighting.
“Come on, we’re not going to make the playoffs. We’re out of the running and these guys come in, frustrated when we don’t score and have energy in training. They have energy coming into the game. We want to win. There aren’t even guys playing who are yelling on the sideline and wanting to win. So I think we’re building something good, building something that looks like here. And I’m proud to be a patriot.”
A natural-born leader, Maye is finding his voice as New England’s quarterback of the future. And even if the rookie doesn’t speak directly to the Krafts about what their coaching staff will look like in 2025, Patriots ownership now knows exactly how he feels.
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