FOXBORO — Not to put any undue pressure on him, but the Patriots’ success will be dependent on how quarterback Drake Maye performs this season.
If Maye can take a significant leap with a new offensive coordinator in Josh McDaniels, some upgraded weapons headlined by Stefon Diggs and TreVeyon Henderson and an improved offensive line, then the Patriots could be a surprise contender this season.
McDaniels was asked about his expectations for Maye this season.
“High. He’s the quarterback of our football team, and so I’ve always had high expectations for the quarterback room in general,” McDaniels said. “I know how hard they work, so I have confidence in his preparation. I know there’s going to be opportunities to improve as we go through every day, every week. It’s my first opportunity to coach a game with him, with a lot of our guys. So, I’m sure I’m going to learn a lot. But always go in, my feelings are always based on what I see every day and how hard they work and what they put into it.
“And I couldn’t ask Drake to do more than what he’s doing. He’s trying to understand exactly what we’re doing, really 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 faces a familiar foe in the Raiders, where he was head coach for 25 games starting in 2022 before getting fired in 2023.
Maye had plenty of promising moments in his rookie season, when he completed 66.6% of his passes for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while contributing 421 yards and two more scores on the ground. But he also came away with just one win as a full-game starter last season, and he turned the ball over 16 total times in 13 games.
Maye appeared to fix some of his turnover issues in training camp this season, but he lost a fumble in the Patriots’ first preseason game and had an interception dropped in Week 2 of the preseason. He also had turnover issues in an intra-squad scrimmage early in camp.
Head coach Mike Vrabel has also stressed Maye being smarter about taking unnecessary hits. The majority of Maye’s rushing attempts last season came on scrambles. It seems like the Patriots will have more designed runs for Maye this season as long as he’s willing to get on the turf to avoid injuries.
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