Drake Maye showed on Sunday why the New England Patriots chose him with the third pick in the NFL draft last April.
He also reminded everyone that quarterbacks need time to grow.
Maye led the Patriots with a career-high 95 rushing yards. He skillfully dodged defenders for 11.82 seconds before finding Rhamondre Stevenson open in the end zone just after the clock hit zero, which forced the game into overtime.
However, in overtime, Maye threw his second interception of the game, resulting in a 20-17 loss to the Titans, marking the Patriots’ second overtime defeat this season (2-7).
“We already knew it, but the clear takeaway is his mental toughness and ability to move on from tough situations, and that’s an important trait for a quarterback,” first-year coach Jerod Mayo said. “He’s a good competitor.”
The rookie had limited practice time during the week while he worked through the concussion protocol that kept him out of last week’s game against the Jets. He was cleared to play on Saturday and showed no signs of hesitation, running the ball eight times to lead the team in rushing. He also passed for 206 yards.
“He gave us a chance to win the game. Obviously, we just didn’t finish,” Mayo said.
Maye did throw two interceptions, with the last one ending the game. He lost the ball when Titans linebacker Arden Key sacked him for the fourth time, and Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons recovered the fumble.
This set up the Titans at the Patriots’ 26-yard line, leading to an easy touchdown for a team that had only scored once in the fourth quarter of a game this season. After New England’s defense limited Tennessee to a 25-yard field goal in overtime, the Patriots still had one last chance until Maye threw his second interception.
Maye now has six touchdown passes and four interceptions this season. “I need to go back and learn from this, especially me,” Maye said. “I have to take these game reps and make the most of them, and I need to play better.”
The play that highlighted Maye’s potential came when he scrambled to buy time for his only touchdown pass in this loss. He praised his offensive linemen for keeping their blocks while he searched for a receiver.
There were only four seconds left on the game clock when the ball was snapped. Maye took the second-longest time to throw for a touchdown since Next Gen Stats began tracking this data in 2016, only behind Jayden Daniels’ game-winning throw for Washington last week, which took 12.7 seconds.
Coach Mayo chose to go for the extra point instead of a two-point conversion to win the game. The quarterback mentioned that he was focused on catching his breath and didn’t think about convincing his coach to let him handle the ball again.
“After being out there for so long on such an intense drive, I think it’s tough to go for two,” Maye said. “It’s not easy to look back and say that now.”
