The Patriots become Drake Maye’s team: in the meeting that led to a huge victory
CHICAGO – The New England Patriots’ first practice of the week, the one in which they installed the game plan for the upcoming opponent, went horribly. It was Wednesday, four days before a game here against the Bears, and the Patriots couldn’t do anything right offensively.
Quarterback Drake Maye fumbled in an instant. The offensive line botched a protection it had talked about. Penalties slowed things down.
“We had some mental mistakes,” Maye said.
Then Maye became furious. He weighed what to do. He has only been the team’s starting quarterback for a month and is only 22 years old. But at the same time, he’s the quarterback, and there’s a gravity to that position in this game.
Since Maye took over as this franchise’s starting quarterback, she has reached out to more teammates individually. He often texts them different pieces from practice in the evening, either plays where he wants them to do something different, or applauding something they’ve done.
“Then you feel like, ‘I know Drake, and he cares about me.’ That’s how I approach it,” Maye said Sunday.
But then Wednesday’s bad practice happened and he felt something bigger was needed. So Maye asked offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt if he could speak to the entire unit, and Van Pelt greenlighted the idea.
The speech that followed and Maye’s play in a 19-3 victory over the Bears, a win that was by far the team’s best overall performance of the season, helped solidify something that is becoming clear: the Patriots, now 3- 7, are becoming Maye’s team.
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That may sound like – and may even be – a small thing. But it’s important for a franchise that needs an identity after Bill Belichick and for a fan base and team that needs optimism after coming into this game with just six wins in the last 27 games.
Maye’s numbers on Sunday were pedestrian (15 of 25 passing for 185 yards, one touchdown and one interception), but the rookie quarterback created excitement and gave fans a reason to follow this team in the early days of the rebuild.
Moreover, Maye appears to have done so earned this leadership role, which is especially notable in contrast to Caleb Williams and the Bears’ offense, which has struggled mightily in recent weeks after handing the reins to the No. 1 pick this offseason. While the Bears now seem destined for more change and the question of whether they will waste another highly skilled quarterback, Maye found herself in a much less enviable situation roster-wise and has shown growth and improvement while acknowledging that things are far from perfect are.
The 1️⃣ and the 3️⃣#NEvsCHI | #NEPats pic.twitter.com/kkXDDlkCV2
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 10, 2024
Maye’s lineup was vastly different from Williams or No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels. The Patriots did not want him to start early, and although Maye beat Jacoby Brissett in preseason and training camp, they benched Maye to start the season.
It put the rookie in a strange place. Everyone knew he was the quarterback of the future, drafted with the third pick. But he was a backup and had to try to toe that line of playing a secondary role while knowing the weight of a rebuild would eventually fall on his shoulders.
It was a similar tightrope walk when he became a starter. How do you assert your leadership style and go in a different direction without seeming like you’re ignoring what Brissett has done? How can a 22-year-old fresh out of college command the respect of 30-year-olds in families’ homes?
There was a natural feeling process. Maye started sending those texts to teammates while watching videos of practices in his apartment near Gillette Stadium.
Then Wednesday happened. A bad exercise in a long, frustrating season.
So Maye wanted to say something. He stood in front of the team in one of the conference rooms in the auditorium. He told his teammates that what they had done wasn’t good enough. Their standards were higher, their goals loftier.
“Everyone loved it, man,” said rookie receiver Ja’Lynn Polk, who took a step in the right direction Sunday with a two-yard touchdown reception. “We need that from our starting quarterback.”
Drake Maye and Ja’Lynn Polk for the rookie to rookie TD connection #NEPats
📺: #NEvsCHI on FOX
📱: pic.twitter.com/rallRsqNss—NFL (@NFL) November 10, 2024
To be clear, no one was portraying this as a Herb Brooks-style “Miracle on Ice” speech. Maye is the youngest man on the team. It’s nerve-wracking to speak in front of your peers. There were definitely some pauses and mumblings. His heart was probably beating. But what was more important than the actual message was what that message meant: the young quarterback taking charge of the franchise.
“I don’t know how he did it. I couldn’t do that,” receiver Demario Douglas said with a laugh. “As a quarterback, I think he should be able to do that. But if it were me, I would get nervous and sweat.”
Perhaps even more important than the message or what it meant was that the team responded. Douglas said the subsequent practices were some of the best of the season. Then came the game and the Patriots turned in their best performance of the year, even though it was against a Bears team that was clearly reeling.
No, Maye wasn’t perfect on this day. There will still be learning moments and rookie mistakes, like his interception in the first quarter. But there will also be impressive moments to build on, like his 24-yard strike on Austin Hooper, the way he orchestrated the Patriots’ scoring drive at the end of the half and the way he went through the pocket, a stark contrast to Williams. who was sacked nine times by a resurgent New England defense. There were positive moments, even if his stats won’t surprise most observers.
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The Patriots are still very early in this rebuild. In many ways, they are still getting to know Maye and are eager to give him a hard time in a light-hearted way.
“His accent is a little strong and I can’t understand some words, but he can speak well,” Michigan native Mike Onwenu joked about Maye’s North Carolina accent.
This Patriots season has felt like a lost season at times, a necessary grind before the promise of better days when free agency and draft picks add talent to a roster in need of it.
But there are small moments along the way that will plant the seeds for the longer-term success the Patriots are hoping for. This week delivered another one as their quarterback stood in front of them and called the group, and they all backed it up with their best play yet, offering a simple truth about where they’re going.
The Patriots become Maye’s team.
(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
