New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has surprisingly come under a lot of criticism following the conclusion of a second-year regular-season campaign that earned him 23 first-place MVP votes.
He threw for 268 yards against the Los Angeles Chargers in his first career playoff game, but has struggled after taking the field in back-to-back blizzard games against the Houston Texans and the Denver Broncos.
Most recently, Maye completed just ten passes for 86 yards in the AFC Championship Game.
However, if his conversation with quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant is any indication, the weather will be no problem for the North Carolina native on Super Bowl Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
“He made a comment to me at practice (this week) about the weather,” Grant told Mark Daniels of MassLive. “And it just made me laugh. He was like, ‘Ashton, I can put the ball wherever I want to in this weather.’
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“Having that physical ability must be pretty sweet.”
Grant is a homegrown guy himself. He played at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., where he holds the school record for receiving yards (3,204), touchdown receptions (36) and touchdown receptions in a single season (13).
He is in his first year coaching with the hometown team and told MassLive that he knew Maye was special immediately.
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“Just the comfortability of a 22-year-old kid at the time to get on the board and draw concepts that he liked,” Grant said. “He could visualize some of the things that Josh was talking about. I knew super early that he had the potential to be a difference maker.
“I think that’s the difference with a lot of guys. I think my IQ’s pretty good, but I can’t do 20% of what Drake Maye can do. I think that’s the blend of really good quarterbacks being able to take the meeting room to the field, but actually go out there and execute it.”
Featured image via Kyle Terada/Imagn Images
