Drake Maye wasn’t able to lead the New England Patriots to a win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, but he seemed to instill some fear in Mike McDaniel following the 34-15 defeat.
The Dolphins head coach dished out some praise toward Maye after his team’s victory. However, McDaniel admitted that he isn’t rooting for the Patriots rookie quarterback to be too successful.
“He had ownership of the game even a little bit more than what had shown on tape,” McDaniel told reporters. “He made some plays in similar fashions that he made on tape. I think when you’re able to be a pocket passer but then extend plays and make teams pay when you’re in man coverage or two-man, it’s a problem.
“He’ll continue to make plays as he gets better and better in the pocket. It’s a guy that honestly, I’m not really rooting for his development, being in the division, but I can appreciate the player, and they have a very good player to work with at that position. We’ll continue to have to be on our stuff.”
Maye didn’t have his best performance in the Patriots’ loss to the Dolphins, committing a pair of head-scratching turnovers. He lost a fumble in the third quarter when he tried to avoid a sack, holding the ball in the air as opposed to throwing it away. His second turnover came in the fourth quarter, throwing an interception on a lob that just made it back to the line of scrimmage while facing pressure.
Still, Maye was one of the few bright spots in the Patriots’ loss as he still provided some promising moments. For instance, his lone touchdown pass came on a play where he avoided the Dolphins’ pass rush on a fourth-and-15 play before hitting Austin Hooper deep down the field for a 38-yard touchdown pass.
Additionally, Maye used his legs to create positive yards for the Patriots on a handful of occasions as New England’s offensive line had a lackluster performance. He rushed for 26 yards on five rushes while he completed 22 of 37 passes for 222 yards, a touchdown, and an interception with a 74.4 passer rating.
It’s ‘increasingly clear’ to Patriots that Drake Maye is franchise QB
Sunday was arguably Maye’s worst performance in his seven career starts, but the fact that he showed flashes of strong quarterback play is why many believe he’ll wind up being a great quarterback moving forward. The Patriots have a similar feeling about Maye, believing it’s become “increasingly clear” that he’s a franchise quarterback, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported earlier Sunday.
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“They’re confident that Drake Maye is the guy for the future,” Rapoport said on NFL GameDay Morning. “They come out of the season knowing that, that is a huge win. Let me explain why: In games, my understanding after talking to a couple different sources, he has a complete understanding of what’s in front of him.”
“It hasn’t been entirely perfect, but he knows where to go, doesn’t get fooled pre-snap and has shown he’s capable of more. And then in practice, specifically with the scout team, they do not give him the answers. They make him figure it out and more often than not he does exactly that.”
Maye’s solid play at quarterback hasn’t translated to wins, going 2-5 as a start while the Patriots are 3-9 this season. But he’s thrown for 1,458 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions with 286 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in eight games. He’s also doing it with a less-than-stellar supporting cast as Pro Football Focus ranked the Patriots’ offensive line as the worst in the NFL entering Week 12.
So, it’s understandable to see why the Patriots are feeling optimistic about their future, even if the current record doesn’t reflect it.