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Patriots Mailbag: The time is now for Drake Maye designed runs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Patriots had a goal-to-go situation last weekend that would’ve been tailor-made for a quarterback to tuck the ball and run.
Instead, on third down from the Rams 2-yard line, they handed off to Rhamondre Stevenson for no gain. Then, on fourth down, Jerod Mayo opted to kick a chip-shot field goal.
Though Drake Maye’s athleticism would allow for the Patriots to convincingly deploy him as a runner in that type of scenario, the team has been very open with its unwillingness to call on Maye to use his legs on designed runs. For weeks, their approach has been that Maye — who suffered a concussion in an Oct. 27 win over the Jets — scrambles enough in off-script situations that the added punishment he would take on called run plays simply isn’t worth it.
But it sounds as though that approach is changing. After eight runs against the Titans in Week 9, Maye has just seven combined scrambles in games against the Bears and Rams in the last two weeks. Mayo was asked Wednesday if Maye’s reluctance to leave the pocket in recent weeks might allow the Patriots to finally call plays where he’s the designated ball-carrier.
“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,” Mayo said. “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.”
Even just a handful of non-scramble runs could plant a seed of doubt in the minds of defenders facing the Patriots moving forward, Devin McCourty told Next Pats this week.
🔊 Next Pats Podcast: McCourty: Designed runs for Drake Maye will cause defenses PROBLEMS | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
“I think they’re trying to balance, ‘All right, how much do we put on this kid? How much do we…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-mailbag-time-now-drake-223311467.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-11-21 22:33:00
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