Maye’s Plays: Drake Maye looking as advertised in Patriots starting debut

Breaking down Drake Maye’s first career start.

A new era officially began Sunday at Gillette Stadium as No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye made his first career NFL start for the New England Patriots.

As expected, the 22-year-old had his fair share of rookie mistakes in his first start — including a pair of interceptions (one deflected) and a strip sack. But, Maye left plenty to be encouraged about as he threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns — both in game season-highs for the Patriots.

“I thought Drake made some good decisions out there. I thought he had some good reads. I thought he tried to get the ball out of his hands. I thought he did a good job extending plays with his legs, picking up first downs,” head coach Jerod Mayo said post game.

As Mayo noted, the mental side of Maye’s game may have been the most positive parts of his starting debut. Beyond the obvious physical tools, the rookie impressively seemed to see the field well and make good decisions, while the majority of his mistakes stemmed from accuracy issues.

Additionally, as we discussed on here before Maye was named the starter, the quarterback’s skillset and success could also force opposing defenses to have to change their strategy against New England moving forward.

The Patriots have struggled moving the football against man coverage, but Maye completed six passes for 110 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception against man coverage. More performances like that may make opposing defenses think twice before letting Maye attack 1-on-1 matchups.

As for the rest of the rookie’s day, let’s get into some of his most notable moments in this week’s Maye’s Plays.

Early mistake

Situation: 3-3 NE 37 (1:53) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass deep left intended for D.Douglas INTERCEPTED by C.Bullock at HST 45.

Starting with the bad. After an opening three-and-out, where Maye threw away his lone attempt, the quarterback’s slow start continued as he tossed his first career interception on his third pass attempt.

Maye makes the right mental move to come off his initial read all the way to the left before working back to Pop Douglas. But, despite a clean pocket and an open Douglas working against man coverage, Maye sails a throw right to Calen Bullock for an interception.

“Just got to make better throws,” Maye said post game. “I missed a little high, and you can’t miss high over the middle in this league. That’s what they always say; you can’t miss high over the middle, and tipped balls on the second one turned into interceptions.”

“Beat myself up about on the sideline,” he later added on WEEI. “Feel like I need to make those throws. That’s one of my best things — throwing across the middle.”

The rookie noted he was a “little amped” at the start of the game as adrenaline or first-start jitters could have played into the high throw. But, Maye sailed a few other passes throughout the day which was also not uncommon during his time at UNC.

Bombs away

Situation: 2-3 HST 40 (:16) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass deep right to K.Boutte for 40 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Entering the week, New England had faced the highest rate of single-high safety coverages in the NFL. Houston rolled with a similar strategy while both Maye and wide receiver Kayshon Boutte additionally noted the Texans were sitting on underneath routes early on.

While the Patriots’ passing attack had issues pushing the ball downfield with Jacoby Brissett, Maye was a big-time play hunter in college. On Sunday, it was only a matter of time before he took his shot 1-on-1 downfield.

That shot came near the end of the first half as New England dialed up two outside go routes leaving Boutte one-on-one against Derek Stingley Jr. to the quarterback’s right.

With safety help on the other half of the field, Maye knew immediately where he wanted to go with the football and dropped a beautiful ball in a bucket for a touchdown. According to Next Gen Stats, the throw traveled 51.7 yards in the air which was the longest completion by a Patriots’ quarterback over the last three seasons.

“I think we’ve got to give guys – give him a chance,” Maye said. “That was kind of my thought process; give him a chance. I thought kind of the Texans was kind of squatting us a little bit. They came out and challenged us and played in man so tried to let one ride and give Boutte a chance. He made a nice play, and it was pretty cool.”

Drive starter

Situation: 2-8 NE 18 (:36) (No Huddle, Shotgun) D.Maye pass short right to D.Douglas pushed ob at NE 40 for 22 yards.

The touchdown rightfully dominates the highlights, but it may not have happened without a second-down completion to start the final one-minute drill.

Backed up inside their own 20 with 36 seconds left in the half, Maye gets the offense on the move with one of his more under-the-radar plays of the day. Operating a West Coast staple, Maye open to the corner-choice route combination to his left. Seeing it’s covered, the rookie works to the middle of the field and then all the way back across the field to Douglas.

Following the full-field read, the arm talent and poise is on display as Maye flicks a pass from the far harsh in a crowded pocket to allow Douglas a YAC opportunity. That’s exactly what happens as the shifty receiver picks up 22 yards.

Four plays later, Maye hit Boutte to cut the lead to 14-7 going into halftime.

It wasn’t Maye’s only full-field read of the day, as the rookie also converted an earlier 3rd-and-3 by working left-to-right before hitting Antonio Gibson. As discussed at the top, Maye was seeing the field extremely well for a rookie.

Manipulation

Situation: 1-10 NE 28 (7:39) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short right to K.Boutte to NE 41 for 13 yards (E.Murray).

Another good quarterback play from Maye came later in the fourth quarter. New England is running a corner-flat combo to his right against Cover-2, which leaves a cornerback in the middle of the two routes.

Maye, however, pump fakes in order to get the cornerback to move forward just enough to the flat to open a passing lane to Boutte on the corner — which he hits in stride. Again, impressive stuff for a rookie in his first start.

Pop party

Situation: 3-5 HST 35 (9:31) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short middle to D.Douglas for 35 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

After Drake Maye compared Douglas to the 5-foot-9 Josh Downs, who was the QB’s favorite target in their lone season together at UNC, you could predict the two’s chemistry would develop. In Maye’s first career start, Douglas tied a season-high nine targets while setting a career-high with 92 receiving yards and hauling in his first NFL touchdown.

With Houston playing plenty of man coverage, Douglas was a favorite target of Maye over the middle of the field. The rookie’s accuracy was spotty, however, which led to incompletions and limited YAC opportunities for Douglas.

“Left a lot of yards out there for Pop, especially on some of the crossing routes,” Maye said Monday on WEEI.

After sailing the interception, the biggest miss may have come on a 17-yard completion, where Douglas was forced to adjust to a high and behind pass which potentially cost him a touchdown.

Two possessions later, the duo finally fully capitalized. Douglas wins again over the middle on a similar play and Maye hits him in stride perfectly allowing the receiver to take it 35 yards to the house for a touchdown.

“The other day I was saying that I was going to get my first touchdown catch so it was spoken into existence and manifested it,” Douglas said post game. “I read the defense and saw man. I caught the ball and [said to myself], ‘don’t fall this time…don’t fall this time,’ and got into the end zone.”

Douglas was excellent on Sunday and hauled in three passes for 59 yards and a score against man coverage. It’s no surprise his best game as a pro came — which could have been even bigger as he was open constantly — with Maye behind center.

Off script

Situation: 2-8 NE 32 (5:03) (No Huddle, Shotgun) D.Maye pass short right to H.Henry to HST 38 for 30 yards.

When Jerod Mayo made the switch to Drake Maye last week, he noted the quarterback’s ability to extend plays and make things happen off-script as a trait that will help New England’s offense. It was a big part of Maye’s game at UNC and was again on display in his first start.

In addition to being the team’s leading rusher (5-38) as he got out of bad situations with his legs, Maye’s biggest out of structure completion came in the third quarter. After the stick concept to Hunter Henry is covered, Maye extends the play by breaking the pocket to his right. Henry does a strong job of working towards space and Maye finds him for a completion.

Despite the pass traveling roughly just 10 air yards, the out of structure nature helped result Henry in creating an explosive 30-yard gain. In recent weeks (or years) this play would likely go for a throwaway or result in a negative play, but Maye’s legs and creativity provide a welcomed boost to the offense.