FOXBOROUGH, Mass (AP) — Drake Maye played the best football of his young NFL career during his first season working with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
It included a Super Bowl run, his second straight Pro Bowl nod and a second-place finish to the Rams’ Matthew Stafford in MVP voting to punctuate a season in which he completed 72% of his passes, threw 31 touchdowns and had 4,394 yards passing.
He’s back for Year 3 with much the same offensive group that was the catalyst of the Patriots’ offense.
Maye won’t have his top target from last season after Stefon Diggs was released in March, but the offseason trade for A.J. Brown has imbued Maye — and the offense as a whole — with confidence that it can find another level this season.
“That is the best thing about offense, like coach McDaniels (says): ‘It can be anybody any given day,’ and that is what the story was last year,” Maye said. “I feel like that is what we are trying to repeat and just have a little bit more juice and a little bit more swagger to us.”
Like he did before the start of training camp last season, Maye again hosted a group of Patriots receivers, including Brown, for three days that included workouts in his home state of North Carolina.
It helped jumpstart the chemistry-building process with Brown as he looks to continue the success he had in Philadelphia when he posted four straight seasons of more than 1,000 yards receiving.
Brown said he’s enjoying getting to learn about how Maye sees the field. He added that getting a dialogue going with his new QB is a must.
“My game will be my game,” Brown said. “But as far as what he likes and what he needs, that’s the thing that I’ve got to get on the same page with him and continue to work on those things and we have to.”
Several of Maye’s teammates who have been around him the past two seasons see a quarterback who’s more vocal on the field.
“I’m just trying to be myself, I think that is the big thing,” Maye said. “I think it is natural when you are in the second year of an offense and you feel like you know what you are talking about, and you can put a year on tape where you feel like you did some good things and knew what you were doing most of the time.”
Backup quarterback Tommy DeVito says Maye finding more confidence in his voice is expected at this point in his career.
“I think going from Year 1 to Year 2 in an offense, growing with Josh, (coach Mike Vrabel) and the rest of the team and everybody around him feeling more comfortable ultimately playing in playoff games and a Super Bowl,” DeVito said. “Coming back to now, I just think there’s a different chip on everybody’s shoulder. And I think for him coming out and telling everybody what he wants, that’s all the power to him and I’m looking forward to seeing him play this year.”
One thing Maye has taken advantage of so far in camp is testing himself and his receivers against Patriots star cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Maye said he can already see it will pay off for a group that is already trying to outperform one another.
“We got a crowded room and I think they realize that the only thing to make the room even better is to keep making plays,” Maye said. “I wouldn’t even say crowded, it’s just a competitive room — is the biggest thing.”
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