After finishing second in MVP voting a season ago, nobody expected New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye to struggle as much as he has through two weeks of the season. Still, those struggles are very real.
Maye is completing 67.3% of his passes for 386 yards. However, he only has 1 touchdown to 4 interceptions.
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky recently tried to figure out what to blame on NFL Live. That starts with the playcalling by Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, but there is also another major issue with Maye himself.
“He looks like a young man that’s scared to make mistakes right now,” Orlovsky said. “And I think the playcalling is part of it. Unaggressive playcalling will create unaggressive play. Certainly thinking of the thing that I could do to not mess up. If you look at some of the throws that he’s not making, that’s more concerning than some of the throws he is making.”
Maye’s footwork is clearly off. It isn’t fluid and he isn’t pushing off his plant foot. Instead, he’s dancing.
“Does that look like a guy who’s confident in what he’s looking at? Absolutely not,” Orlovsky said. “The tight end is wide open. That’s the number one on the play. We’re designing the play for him. You guys have heard me say, ‘Look at the right foot of the quarterback.’ Does it look like he’s planting in the ground with conviction?”
Orlovsky went to another play. On this one, he bailed on a clean pocket and missed an open throw.
“When I’m watching him, it’s like a young man right now that is thinking, ‘Don’t do the wrong thing.’ Worrying about making a mistake and trying to see the easiest thing the defense is giving to him, rather than being convicted and confident in his throws,” Orlovsky said.
New England Patriots HC Mike Vrabel Addressed Drake Maye’s Footwork
With some time to look back on the win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had some time to look at Drake Maye’s footwork. In particular, how he and the offense were handling their fundamentals against pressure.
“I mean, I think there were a few pressures,” Mike Vrabel said. “And there were a few times where we had them blocked, and I thought TreVeyon [Henderson] blocked well when asked to go in there. Again, footwork’s about fundamentals. Those are fundamentals of the position, and making sure that you kind of feel the rush, but you’re seeing the coverage and finding windows to throw.”
There were, admittedly, times when the pressure forced Maye to miss some throws. However, he does need to feel the rush better and make his decisions decisively.
“We had Hunter [Henry] another time, and [Cameron] Heyward got some push in there, got his hand up and tipped a pass. So again, it’s about knowing how to manipulate the rush sometimes, knowing where you want to go with the football and being decisive,” Vrabel said.
The Next Test for the Patriots and Maye
The early season schedule was always going to be tough for the Patriots. They played three division winners and the Buffalo Bills in the opening four weeks of the season.
That difficult schedule is going to continue next week. The Patriots hit the road again to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Both teams enter 1-1 on the season, but the Jaguars are coming off a loss. They’re giving up 15.0 points per game. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, September 27th.
ESPN Dan Orlovsky Points Blame for Patriots QB Drake Maye Struggling Early