The Patriots lost on Sunday, so naturally, quarterback Drake Maye and his underwhelming performance have been the main driver of conversation in and around New England.
Former NFL quarterback Matt Cassel is at least a little bit sympathetic.
“I think any time you have to go out there in the first game of the year with a limited run game and throw the ball 46 times, you’re gonna have some plays go awry, or you’re not going to be as crisp or as sharp,” Cassel told Phil Perry on the Next Pats Podcast.
🔊 Next Pats Podcast: Why Drake Maye CAN handle the Josh McDaniels’ offense | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
Josh McDaniels’ offense is considered to be extremely complex, and thus it has been blamed as one of the potential hurdles for Maye in his second year in the NFL. Cassel, though, explained how McDaniels’ offense actually makes life easier for the quarterback at the helm of the operation.
“I talk about this all the time to anybody that ever asks me about playing within the New England offense — it is a quarterback-friendly offense,” Cassel said. “There’s a lot of nuances to it in terms of for the quarterback, there’s tremendous responsibility about coming up, setting the protection, and getting yourself protected. But that’s also understanding defenses.
“But really, all those things you talk about in terms of, ‘it’s very complex, it’s very sophisticated,’ it’s not as sophisticated as you think. A lot of that stuff shows up on third down and red zone, when you have to be able to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage.”
Cassel used Maye’s touchdown pass to DeMario Douglas as a direct example of the quarterback using pre-snap motion to know exactly where to go with the ball once the play begins.
“Drake Maye, the touchdown pass to Douglas in the game, you saw what they did. They moved the running back outside, he got a coverage indicator right there,” Cassel said. “That helps the quarterback more than it hurts him or puts him in a position where they’re playing scared. He comes back, you see him go, ‘alert, alert,’ and then he’s got his one-on-one matchup going to the outside against inside leverage, and he throws a great ball, and it results in a touchdown.”
“So if you want to say that’s too much on a quarterback’s plate, no,” Cassel concluded. “A lot of these pre-snap alignments, formational shifts are giving the indicators on what the play is that we need to get to in those certain circumstances.”
Also in this episode:
- Cassel discusses what the Patriots can do to set up Maye for success in Week 2.
- Drake Maye says there isn’t too much on his plate.
- Who’s Next?! College players to watch this weekend.
