Jeffery Simmons sees a bright future for Maye
Patriots rookie Drake Maye is quickly gaining the respect of his NFL peers.
Maye started to put himself on the map thanks to bright spots in all of his first four starts with New England. The first-year signal-caller provided arguably his best highlight to date Sunday when he led a miraculous late-game touchdown drive in Tennesee that forced overtime.
Although Maye committed three turnovers in Week 9 — including an OT interception that sealed a 20-17 Titans win — his 206 passing yards and 95 rushing yards still made him one of the best players on the field at Nissan Stadium. And his impressive performance earned a salute from a Titans defensive standout with a documented mean streak.
“Titans DT Jeffery Simmons said he sought out Drake Maye after the game to tell him ‘he’s going to be a hell of a player,'” The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin posted to X after Sunday’s game.
Patriots players unsurprisingly are also loading up on Maye stock. In fact, one of New England’s most respected leaders went as far as to compare the 22-year-old to one of the NFL’s very best quarterbacks.
Maye still has a lot of work to do in terms of polishing his game. But early returns indicate the Patriots made the right call taking the North Carolina product third overall this past spring.