Patriots Relaying This Message To Drake Maye About Popular Critique

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has exceeded expectations early, but there’s one aspect of his game that could use some work.

New England would like to see the 22-year-old do a better job protecting himself.

Maye’s mobility is one of the strongest points of his game, though the concussion he suffered in Week 8 against the New York Jets — no matter if it was avoidable or not — has caused some pause regarding his propensity to run the football.

The Patriots love that element of his game, but for right now, they’re focused on developing the other aspects.

“Well, our message to Drake — and we’ve had multiple conversations about this — is to maintain being a quarterback as long as possible, and that’s what we expect,” Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said Friday, per team-provided video. “Now, in saying that, absolutely, there will be game-plan runs at a certain time. We’re still evolving as an offense, and I think Drake is continuing to get better. So, we’ll put more on his plate.”

Maye is still going to run the ball, but something we’ve come to realize over the last week is that “staring down the barrel” could soon become more important to the rookie.