Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye plays more, leads team to touchdown

Rookie quarterback Drake Maye led the New England Patriots to a touchdown, his first in the NFL. There might not be many touchdowns or much of Maye early in the regular season for the Patriots.

New England is being careful with the third overall pick. Part of that is the infrastructure around Maye isn’t conducive to success for a rookie quarterback. Maye hasn’t started either preseason game and is unlikely to start in Week 1 of the regular season. There will be plenty of calls for him to start the season opener. But the most likely outcome is Patriots fans will have to wait, hopefully and patiently.

On Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, Maye got some more playing time than he did in an abbreviated appearance in the preseason opener. Maye completed 6-of-11 passes for 47 yards in two quarters of work. He had a few nice throws and a touchdown run on a read option near the goal line.

Patriots fans are used to greatness at quarterback, but not necessarily quarterbacks who can make plays running the ball.

Maye was fine in the Patriots’ second preseason game. He looked good on a few throws. He threw too high on a couple, including a second-and-11 pass in which he hesitated before releasing the ball. For Patriots fans, it was good to see him for more than a few plays. His best pass might have been an incompletion. Early in the third quarter he threw deep to rookie Javon Baker nearly 50 yards in the air. He threw it with ease and it was a nice ball, but Baker barely missed making a diving catch.

The important part was the throw itself, which was a good one. Maye didn’t do anything to disappoint.

Maye didn’t play much in the first preseason game. He threw just three passes. The reason Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo gave for the lack of action with Maye was that he wanted the rookie to work mostly with the starting line. That speaks to the Patriots’ issues; they don’t have enough depth to adequately support a rookie quarterback. That’s a reason Jacoby Brissett is…


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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-08-16 01:16:59

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