Only a few days remain before the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks go head-to-head in a battle for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LX in the Bay Area at Levi’s Stadium, with anticipation growing amongst the players and fans with each passing day.
As per usual, as each day passes, both of these teams go through the motions in terms of speaking to the media and getting analyzed at nausem, as everyone tries to figure out how this Super Bowl will play out and which team will end up on top on Feb. 5.
Rhamondre Stevenson on Importance of Patriots’ Ground Game & Protecting Drake Maye
GettyDrake Maye #10 and Rhamondre Stevenson #38 of the New England Patriots
One star player for the Patriots who will play a crucial role in the team’s success on Sunday is running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Not only will head coach Mike Vrabel and company look to get Stevenson going early and often, but they will also be looking for him to protect Drake Maye.
On Wednesday, Stevenson was asked how important it will be for New England to get the ground game going and to give Maye time to make plays in the pocket.
“Very important,” Stevenson said. “I take pride in protecting Drake. I’m going to do everything I can to keep everybody’s hands off of him. It’s up to me, TreVeyon [Henderson], the offensive line, to get the run game going and get a great game going and get the ball out of Drake’s hands and things like that and keep him safe.”
The Seahawks’ defense’s key to success in this game will be containing Maye, because if he gets going as he did more often than not during the regular season, Seattle will be in for a long day and likely a disappointing outcome, while the Patriots potentially go on to win a seventh Super Bowl title and the first in the post-Tom Brady era.
Mike Vrabel on When He Knew Drake Maye Was Special
GettyDrake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots and Head coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots
After a less-than-stellar rookie season with the Patriots, during which the team went 3-9, Maye took his game to another level following Vrabel’s arrival as his new head coach. The promising young quarterback helped lead the team to an impressive 14-3 record and has now paved the way for the franchise to win a Super Bowl.
Ahead of Super Bowl LX, Vrabel was asked when he knew Maye would be a special quarterback in the NFL.
“I think I probably realized that before I got here,” Vrabel said. “That’s a large part of the reason that I wanted to be here. There were plays in training camp and things that he did, whether his – I think the thing was the accuracy outside of the pocket or on the move, I touched on it, the way he plays the position, he has an athletic nature to the way that he plays the position. So, I think that’s somewhat unique. I think that everybody has a different skill set, and he’s comfortable in the pocket. I think his ability to transfer up into the pocket to make moves, to make throws off platform and different angles, has been impressive.”
There’s no question that there’s a bright future ahead for Maye, but he’ll first have to contend with a very good Seahawks defense in the biggest game of his life on Sunday in Santa Clara, California.
Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson Sends Strong Message on Protecting Drake Maye