Douglas posted a career-high 92 yards in Maye’s first start.
The New England Patriots entered the 2024 season looking to lay their foundation for upcoming years. They made of had a glimpse of a key part of that foundation on Sunday.
While New England certainly plans for Drake Maye to be the heart of the team’s core moving forward, Maye’s chemistry with sophomore wide receiver DeMario Douglas shined right out of the gate. In Maye’s first start, Douglas caught six passes for a career-high 92 yards and additionally found the end zone for the first time in his career.
“Just missed that first one across the middle to Pop, and then kind of grooved later on with Pop,” Maye said Wednesday. “You can’t guard him in a phone booth. He’s tough to guard in man coverage, and he’s got a knack for finding zones. So, he’s a great guy to have out there and makes my job a little easier.”
With New England struggling to move the football against man coverage through the first five weeks of the season, that is where Maye and Douglas made their money vs. the Texans. Douglas finished with three catches for 59 yards and a score against man coverage, while some self-admitted accuracy issues from the rookie cost Douglas and even bigger day.
DeMario Douglas could have potentially had his first touchdown two possessions beforehand on a similar play, but Maye’s pass was high/behind.
Nice bounce back to hit Douglas in stride and let him take care of the rest. pic.twitter.com/3iOg0eaZPC
— Brian Hines (@iambrianhines) October 14, 2024
Despite the misses — which included Maye’s early interception — Douglas never saw his rookie quarterback’s confidence waver.
“I love how he gained confidence throughout the game and I thought it was a good first game for him. He’s [a good player] and I like the confidence that he had going into his first game,” Douglas said post game. “He has that confidence and never was down. When you have a [quarterback] that is never down, it gives us confidence. He came into the huddle saying, ‘come on, let’s go’ and pushed us to be like ‘we got your back.’”
As the Patriots’ offense now turns their attention to the Jacksonville Jaguars, it would be no surprise to see Maye target Douglas often yet again. Entering Week 7, Jacksonville has played man coverage at the third highest rate in the league while allowing a league-worst 128.3 passer rating to receivers in the slot.
“Any time you see a man matchup, Pop is somebody that you want to go to,” Maye said. “And we have guys on the outside that can make plays, which you saw [against Houston] as well.”
“We have a young offense, and we are making progress,” Douglas added. “Our first game together [vs. Houston] as a young offense and I felt like we should be moving forward after this game.”