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In Drake Maye, Patriots got the right guy for a nasty job originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Tough day for the “Ohhhhh, but what if he gets hurt?!?!?!?” crowd.
Drake Maye got folded in half like a chaise lounge on one throw, landed on like a sectional sofa at the end of a strip sack and took a pretty good pounding in general in his first NFL start against the Texans on Sunday.
This was a Houston defense that a week earlier harassed Josh Allen into a 9-for-30, 131-yard day and had — in Week 2 — sacked No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams seven times and picked him off twice.
Maye was more than fine. He was actually pretty good. Grading on a curve, he was excellent, throwing for 243 yards and three touchdowns on 20-for-33 passing. He threw two picks, took four sacks and lost a fumble.
When you consider it was his first NFL start and he was sent into battle with a butter knife and a squirt gun, there should be more than a little pep in the step of Patriots fans.
He showed the live arm. He showed the downfield accuracy. He showed the footspeed to escape and the decisiveness to know when he should. It didn’t look like “recess” — a term legendary coach Dante Scarnecchia used when he envisioned a worst-case scenario for Maye’s first start.
Most importantly, he showed terrific mental and physical toughness.
🔊 Patriots Talk Podcast: Big day for Maye-niacs as Pats rookie goes off in first start | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
That was the thing I liked about Maye above all the other prospects during the run-up to the draft. He’d dealt with a fair amount of adversity at North Carolina. Offensive coordinator switch before last season. High-level wideout talent graduating or dealing with injury. A FBS-high 409 pressures faced between 2022 and 2023. And yet he ran for 953 yards and 23 touchdowns. He took a thrashing, which I detailed in this story back in early April.
He never whined, pointed fingers or rolled around like a salmon on the deck of a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/drake-maye-patriots-got-guy-185156470.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-10-14 18:57:58
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