Josh McDaniels hasn’t yet experienced a real gameday with Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. But the veteran play-caller still enters Week 1 with high expectations for the sophomore signal-caller, partly due to the connection they’ve formed over the last eight months.
McDaniels is hopeful that connection will be on display when the Patriots host the Raiders at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
“I have confidence in his preparation,” McDaniels said of Maye.
“My feelings are based on what I see every day, and how hard they work and what they put into it. I couldn’t ask Drake to do more than what he’s doing,” McDaniels continued. “He’s trying to understand exactly what we’re doing and trying to be as well-versed as he can on what we know from the Raiders. But just looking forward to going out there and watching him play and seeing our entire group out there together.”
McDaniels has helped Maye prepare by showing him film from Pete Carroll’s coaching career. Maye said he watched Super Bowl XLIX when the Patriots beat the Seahawks as well as a 35-30 loss to Carroll’s club in Week 2 of the 2020 campaign. That was the last time McDaniels faced Carroll.
“I think it’s great having Coach McDaniels, who’s played against this defense and knows some extra little tidbits for me to know, whether it’s in the huddle or before on this play,” Maye said. “I think it’s great to have a play-caller in my corner who’s played against this scheme in the Super Bowl.”
It’s not going to be perfect the first time McDaniels is in Maye’s helmet, as McDaniels confirmed. Their connection will improve as they gain more gameday experience. But McDaniels, who is kicking off his third stint as the franchise’s offensive coordinator, nevertheless enters the opener with confidence, largely because of his young quarterback.
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