The expected Drake Maye Year 2 leap began with what can, at best, be described as a small hop.
The Patriots quarterback had a rough season debut in Sunday’s 20-13 home loss to the Raiders, completing 30 of 46 passes for 287 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
After scoring a touchdown on their second possession, Maye led just two scoring drives — both field goals — over the final three quarters.
“What I see is just a sloppy quarterback,” Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard said on 98.5 The Sports Hub on Sunday night. “That first throw to [wide receiver] Demario Douglas, like, it didn’t have anything to do with — the guy was wide open. I don’t know, there must have been six or seven wide-open receivers today that he missed that he wasn’t accurate with.
“And, to me, that has nothing to do with the offense that has to do with his sloppy mechanics, sort of reverting back to — and I don’t think he made that much progress last year with it, to be frank. A lot of the stuff we saw at North Carolina, that first throw to Demario Douglas, that’s all about his legs, his feet getting narrow before he throws, and this is something that has been an issue for him for years. And it’s just not cleaned up.”
The Patriots entered the season as a trendy sleeper thanks to Maye, who showed bright signs in his rookie year amid a brutal 2024 campaign in Foxborough.
The No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft finished with just 15 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, yet he hung in there while competing with a limited group of playmakers around him.
Many expected that having a new coach in Mike Vrabel and a new No. 1 receiver in Stefon Diggs would allow Maye to have a productive second season and New England would potentially compete for a playoff spot.
While you don’t write a team off after Week 1, Maye and the Patriots didn’t provide an uplifting performance.
Maye missed a wide-open Douglas on the Patriots’ first offensive snap, setting the tone for an underwhelming offensive day.
He began the second half by throwing an interception with the Patriots trailing, 10-7, and New England punted on its next four drives before kicking a late field goal to provide the final score.
The NBC Boston group gave Maye grades of C+, C- and D+, respectively.
“He was overmatched. There is upside. There’s good plays,” Tom Curran said, per the NBC website. “But grading on a curve for the No. 3 overall pick, and from what I’ve seen, it was a disappointing physical performance from Drake Maye. His poise needs to be better.”
Maye, to his credit, owned up to his performance, saying he’s “got to be better.”
Vrabel said the youngster needs to recognize that he can’t have an A+ rep each time.
Maye will look to rebound in Week 2 on the road against the Dolphins.
“I think that he wants to be, at times, perfect. And I need [him] to get past that. We all have to get past that. You need to be precise, not perfect,” Vrabel said Monday, per WEEI”s Tom Carroll. “And if you make a mistake, it’s the reaction that you have to the mistake that everybody sees. And then they’re like, ‘Oh, wow, that was a mistake.’ We have to clean our reactions up. Our responses have to be much better…”