The New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye looks to be back on track. But it might lead to the misconception that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels improved his scheme, leading to Maye’s improvement. On the other hand, former NFL star Julian Edelman is not ready to give all the credit to the coach, as he made his feelings clear about Maye.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“I don’t think Josh really tweaked anything. I think this is a product of a 24-year-old quarterback who probably went through his first bit of adversity in his career,” the former New England wide receiver said on the October 15th episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd podcast. “I talk with Josh all the time. He goes, ‘Nothing’s ever been hard for this kid.’ He goes out and he shoots a 78 at Augusta. He can win a three-point contest. He can hit dingers when he does a home run derby. He’s good at everything he does. And probably the best thing for him was to go through a little adversity early into a season after just going to a Super Bowl.”
Earlier in the season, the word “slump” was frequently being used for Maye.
Fans were concerned about how Maye lost his USP of being arguably the best deep-ball thrower in the NFL, after seeing him throw in the first few weeks. In Weeks 1 to 3, Maye completed only 39% of deep throws (9-of-23) on 15-plus yards, with one TD and six INTs overall. He turned things around in Weeks 4 to 5, completing 11 of 18 attempts (61%) for seven touchdowns and one interception in total.
Over the first three weeks of the season, the two-time Pro Bowl selection never exceeded 208 passing yards in a single game, and his 58.6 passer rating was the worst among quarterbacks with more than two starts.
Having contributed to New England’s early-season struggles, he has made significant strides over the past two weeks, especially in avoiding turnovers. He also enters this stretch after recording at least three passing touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
He proved himself after doubts started pouring in.
“Some of the misses, whether it be misread or missed throw, some of those things have just kind of popped up a little bit more and he’s just not taking care of the ball all that well,” a veteran NFL front office staffer told CBS Sports. “He just doesn’t look comfortable and confident out there right now, especially when he’s in the pocket. You still see how much talent he has. It’s just very up-and-down play in and play out.”
But the quarterback did not take long to flip the script, delivering his best performance of the season so far, leading the Patriots to a dominant 45-17 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. He completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns while adding a rushing touchdown of his own.
Against the Raiders on Sunday, October 11, Maye spread the ball around to nine different receivers and showed plenty of confidence on deep throws, averaging 11 yards per attempt. The quarterback shared that the secret behind his success is not to complicate things, going by the head coach’s advice.
“I’m just trying to base it on whatever the defense feels like that gives us opportunities to make plays. I’m trying to get it to the first guy open,” he said. “It’s what Coach (Mike) Vrabel always says, ‘Keep it that simple. First guy open, throw it to him and let him run.’ I’ve been trying to buy into that. It’s just trying to find positive plays, and I feel like we’ve done that these past couple of weeks.”
A major factor behind Maye’s recent turnaround has been his ability to make quicker decisions and trust his vision on the field, which pushed the Patriots from 1-2 to 3-2.