Drake Maye has a tall act to follow after a breakout sophomore season. Former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe hopes fans don't go overboard with their encore expectations.
Maye led New England to an AFC title and narrowly finished second to Matthew Stafford in the MVP voting. Rather than fearing a regression, some observers anticipate greater dominance after the Patriots addressed the offensive line and acquired star wide receiver A.J. Brown.
Are those elevated hopes setting up Maye for a letdown? Bledsoe warned everyone about raising the bar too high during a Wednesday appearance on "Up & Adams."
"He's got all the things, and there's a different kind of pressure that comes with that," Bledsoe said of Maye. "It's like a one-foot putt; all you can do is miss."
Bledsoe cautioned that it won't be easy for Maye and the Patriots to replicate last season's stellar success.
"I think the one thing I would say to people out there is temper your expectations just a little bit," Bledsoe added. "If your expectations are MVP and win the Super Bowl, that's really, really hard. That's really, really hard (to achieve) year in and year out.
"So just appreciate what this guy's doing. He's a very talented player. He's gonna continue to get better. Let's pull back and just appreciate who the guy is without necessarily putting the world's craziest expectations on him going into the next season."
The former Patriots signal-caller can understand Maye's situation better than most. Bledsoe tallied a career-high 4,555 passing yards in his second season, but they went from 10-6 to 6-10 in 1995.
Bledsoe noted that players can be placed on a pedestal after early success, only to be dragged down when they face adversity. The 54-year-old reminded everyone that several factors contribute to a team's performance, including a schedule that helped New England last season.
As a result, Bledsoe doesn't think Patriots fans should treat the season with a Super Bowl-or-bust mindset.
"There's all these different things that happened to allow them to get to the Super Bowl last year," Bledsoe said. "I think if there's a sense out there that anything short of a championship and MVP is a failure of a season, that's a little crazy. And I think people need to dial it back just a touch and just appreciate what this kid is doing."
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