The New England Patriots started the 2024 season strong, but their fire was extinguished as soon as they entered the second week. The team is now trailing 1-2 after their third-week loss to the New York Jets. One of the few exciting things that happened for them during the latest game was the introduction of Drake Maye to his first NFL game.

If you didn’t watch the game, don’t worry, you didn’t miss out on much action because when Maye came out on the field, there wasn’t much that he could have turned around. However, the 22-year-old is still getting praised for all that he could do out in the field during his debut.

It would be safe to assume that the rookie quarterback was let down by the offensive line. He entered the game with only 4:24 left on the clock. During his brief time there, Maye got sacked twice and was hit 12 times. His performance can’t be considered particularly a bad one because the newbie completed four of his eight pass attempts for 22 yards.

The head coach of the team, Jerod Mayo, noticed his talent immediately after and confessed, “He has athleticism. He can make all the throws… I thought he did handle himself well and tried to put a drive together. Something to build off of.”

Mayo wasn’t that keen on criticizing his own offensive team. But anyone who saw the match would agree that OL was half the reason why the Patriots lost 24-3 to the New York Jets. Even a former NFL administrator had an idea about how Maye must have been thinking before he got off the bench.

Enough about others. Let’s learn what Drake Maye thought of his own performance during the game.

Drake Maye has some expectations from himself for the next match

Jerod Mayo seems to think highly of the newbie QB. This means we will probably get to see the youngster in more games this season. With that said, Maye sees some weak spots in himself that he would like to work on. In a recent interview with NBC Sports Boston after his debut match against the Jets, Drake Maye said, “Can’t take stupid sacks. We’re trying to get the ball out, and you can’t take sacks in that situation.” Even after a humiliating defeat, which Maye didn’t fully contribute to, he was rather humble about analyzing himself.

It will take a sports analyst to check how much improvement he needs to get less sacked, and how much of it is to blame on the offensive line. However, staying true to himself after his NFL debut is a great start to a potentially good career. Hopefully, Drake Maye will get to shine brighter in the coming games and Jerod Mayo will work harder on the OL to assist him better on the gridiron.

What did you think about the quarterback’s first NFL game? Do you agree with what his HC had to say?

While you think of the answer, why not go through our exclusive Think Tank interview with Doug Sanders?