FOXBOROUGH – Last weekend, Drake Maye had some shaky moments. The second-year quarterback finished with a career high in passing yards but also missed some open receivers and had a costly turnover in the Patriots’ loss to Las Vegas.
The performance might have led to some concern about the quarterback and his development, but that’s not the case for Josh McDaniels.
The Patriots’ offensive coordinator praised Maye multiple times over the course of his Thursday press conference and said that although there’s plenty to learn, he’s not concerned about Maye’s future.
“The biggest thing for me is he’s a young quarterback. He’s a young quarterback. He’s learning through all these experiences. He’s the right guy,” McDaniels said. “So, we’re going to have an opportunity to continue to improve and get better. I think I’d really be jumping ahead or jumping the gun if I sit here and try to pinpoint one or two things (to improve). We work on a lot of things to try and get better every day. He’s going to improve.”
After Mike Vrabel took over and hired McDaniels, Maye would be changing systems again. For Maye, this season marks the fourth offensive coordinator in four seasons, dating back to his time at North Carolina.
Last season, with Alex Van Pelt, the Patriots ran more of a West Coast system. Under McDaniels, there’s more responsibility on the quarterback when it comes to reading defenses before the snap of the ball.
The new playbook and scheme will create some early bumps in the road. That’s why McDaniels said he wasn’t focused on just one area for Maye to improve.
“I’m the global view with him, the quarterback. Quarterback’s a really difficult position to play,” McDaniels said. “There’s a million things you do every day, every play between cadence, understanding the defense, your footwork, throwing mechanics, and reading coverage. There’s all kinds of things - pocket movement, play faking, handling pressures, seeing defenses, there can’t be one or two things. I’ll never boil it down to that because it’ll be doing them a disservice.”
Last season, Maye was the youngest starting quarterback in the NFL. This season, at age 23, Maye’s now the second-youngest starting quarterback behind Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy (22).
Despite a shaky Week 1 start, Maye’s offensive coordinator is still confident about his future.
“I’m focused on the process of him getting better every day,” McDaniels said. “Because the view of it is, it’s got to be a long-term vision of where this guy’s going to be. He’s going to be a really good player.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.