Drake Maye is a Superstar. | The NFL Today

Drake Maye is a Superstar. | The NFL Today

and welcome to the NFL today on YouTube. JB along with coach Nate and Matt Ryan. Topic one, the New England Patriots. Let me just go big picture first. Mike Vrabel getting it done from a coaching perspective. Five consecutive wins. That’s as many since 2021 for them. I know we’re going to talk Drake May, but let’s give Rael some credit first of all. Yeah, I think putting together this staff because I think one of the biggest things we talked about was bringing Josh McDaniel back into the fold and Josh McDaniel to see the impact he’s had on Drake May. And I just think Mike Vrabel just keeps everything pretty much even keel there. He makes every game personal. Um, we all know that. And I think that the way they play the game, it’s a physicality that they they pride themselves on. It’s a line, it’s a it’s a quarterback that’s not going to turn the football over. It’s interesting to me is he had the one interception today. gives him three on the season for seven games. That’s still pretty good. Six sacks. He’s been sacked like 20 almost 30 times already in these games. And sometimes you you sit there and I know as a defensive coach I’d say a sack isn’t always a bad thing, right? Live to play another down. And sometimes it’s okay to punt if you have a good football team. And this is a very balanced football team on both sides of the ball. Yeah. I think you you talk about the sacks. It’s about knowing your opponents that you’re going against too, right? So, if you’re taking a sack or or or protecting the football in those situations and you’re going against the Cleveland Browns today who have not been very good on the offensive side of the ball, it’s about knowing the situation of the game. And I think that’s one of the things as I look at Drake May that I’m most impressed by. Right? The stats are incredible. The highlight throws down the field have been outstanding, but it’s an understanding of playing really good situational football. And listen, New England fans are spoiled because they saw one of the best to ever do it for 20 plus years in Tom Brady. But Drake May’s done a lot of that. Understanding when to be aggressive, when to pull it back, when to take off and run, using his legs, 50 plus rushing yards today on seven attempts. I mean, those are big as well. But the thing that that sticks out to me that when you watch Drake May play is he’s making the surrounding pieces better. There you go. the guys that are around him are exceeding the expectations that I think everybody has for them. We talk about Kahan Booty becoming a regular name every time we’re doing a highlight. Kan Booty’s mentioned in there. Guys that I play with, Austin Hooper, tight end. Austin Hooper is coming back to life and you see him making catches down the middle. We got Stefon Diggs who’s back making plays. Hunter Henry. We got M. Holland out there. Hunter Henry. We’ve got a bunch of different guys. M. Holland had a big big day today. So great quarterbacks and great players make the players around you better and I think we’re starting to see that in New England. Drake is elevating the play that’s around him. Yeah. Working in this space for a long time and of course playing in the league. We have all met with or spent some time with Vabbril. He’s a he’s a unique dude. One we understand he’s a players coach, but he’s very passionate about the game and he got some swagger to him. Yeah. And I feel like most teams if the head coach is doing it right is a reflection of their head coach. And I bring all that up because going into the season, we were still talking about how New England might be building on something. You know, the young fella Drake May is figuring it out. They’re adding some pieces. Braves is going to take a little time before he establishes what he wants this team to be. I don’t think he was listening to any of that because the narrative was this was supposed to be the Buffalo Bills division, right? And and it’s okay because the Bills are Super Bowl contenders every single season. I believe he was going into that locker room every single day during the offseason week in and week out and saying this isn’t their division. If we play our game, if we do what we need to do offensively, defensively, special teams, and I’ll do my job as a head coach and make sure as a staff we’re right. This is our division. Yeah, this is the Patri. It’s always been our division. We just slipped. We just we just had a little slide for a little bit, but let’s not be scared of what Buffalo is doing. And I honestly believe that if you’re asking me right now, who would I take between the two teams, I’m going I know the Buffalo Bills beat up on the Panthers today, but I would take the New England Patriots. Why? I just feel like they are catching the right type of rhythm. They are spreading the ball around each week. There is a new leading receiver on their team. And for me, that means the quarterback is literally going through his schemes as perfectly as you can because he’s not throwing the ball 10 times to Stefon Diggs or just throwing it to Kahan Booty because he had two touchdowns last week. He is spreading the ball out. And then on top of that, when the running game is going and those guys can hold on to the ball, it’s just as solid on the ground and having beaten Buffalo one time already should make it a little easier the second time. Well, I shouldn’t say easier. Not only beating them, beating them in Buffalo in a night situation. I think one of the things as you look at a team that maybe is ahead of schedule for lack of a better term, right? They’re they’re ahead of where we thought they may be with Mike Vrabel in year one and and Drake May in year two, right? One of the things that you would be concerned with is not being able to handle success, right? I just think Mike Vrabel approaches it in a way that he’s never going to let those guys think too much of themselves or think they’re that good or any of those things. is a lot like the guy at our desk ever lets us think that we’re doing that good of a job or keeping the proper perspective on everything. Or maybe like an old Patriots coach. Correct. Yeah. A guy that he may have played for for a long time. But I think he’s got I I I think that is one of the concerns you have as you look at a team that is young and succeeding for the first time. How are they going to be able to handle that success? I think Mike Vrabel’s got a very good formula for getting guys to focus on the things that matter, right? And getting back to the main thing. and and it’s and I go I go back to the same thing like the head coach it’s the people you surround yourself with on that coaching staff. Sure. Are you aligned and thinking the same way? And I just look at Josh McDaniel, Mike Vrabel, seeing football played a certain way and they they marry each other. Yeah. It’s about protecting the football. It’s about just taking the percentages out of it and a physicality to how we’re going to do it. Josh McDaniels, he wants to run the ball. offers. One thing that’s bothering Mike Babel right now more than anything, the fumbling that’s being done by his I was going to say they’re leaving meat on the bone. I know. I know. So, so he’ll come away from that and say, “We cannot fumble the ball down in the red zone like we did again today.” I says, “We got protective football.” And we said, we said, “Oh, we go, oh, I hope that’s not Raandre Stevens.” Yeah. Yeah. And it wasn’t. Had a rough go of it. And it was Henderson this time. So, maybe it’s trickling down. I don’t know. Yeah. Hopefully not. I know. But but but he does have a way of having a perspective of the game. It’s six and two. We’re halfway. We haven’t done anything yet. We haven’t done anything yet. And that’s and that’s the great thing knowing that you have a buy coming up in a handful of games. This is almost the perfect scenario for this team. So check this out. Here’s what the rest of the schedule looks like before they’re buy. They got the Falcons. Can they win that? Yes. Yeah. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yeah. Yeah. New York Jets. Yeah. Bengals. And then the Giants. Yes. And yes, man. I’m trying to And then And then they go into their by-week with the attempt to retool, regroup, get healthy, energize, get that hunger back, and then go for the final stretch of the season. And you know what he he’s not doing? He is not looking at that schedule. I was I was not putting that schedule up and saying, you know what, games we can win before the all five of these. No, no, no. They’re looking at Atlanta. I guarantee you right now, Mike Vrabel is celebrating that win in the locker room and he is getting back into his office and he is putting together a plan to go get after Atlanta. And I’m telling you one thing he’s doing and I know that I did it. I looked at the schedule and I made sure that we would not look beyond that very next opponent because you know what? You’re hearing exactly what we’re hearing. You know the noise that’s out there. So, I’m going to address that noise right now. I got to ask you. I got to ask you something cuz I just saw your chin pop out. That intensity start to drum up inside you. All right. So team is on a fivegame win streak, right? You know how it is. You kicking them off the field. We come in, we got we got victory Monday. You know, not not that not that we’re not focused, but right before practice, me and your me and the quarterback’s joking around. You see, we’re a little loose, coach. We’re in a lunchroom kind of kicking back. I’m eating my oatmeal in the morning. How are you coming in? How are you coming in this week? I am coming in there mad and I’m walking in that building right now with a look on my face like, you know what? Don’t you believe a thing that you’re hearing from the outside. Don’t believe it. And you know what? If I sense that trickling onto this field, I’m gonna kick you off because you know what? We haven’t done a thing. And you know what? And everyone’s waiting for the shoe to fall. And I think a step for Drake May is to be right there in step with the head coach. He is right. And and you talk about turning the football over, fumbling in that. They were three of 11 on third down today. You’re saying, listen, we’re not even close to being what we can be, right? And that where that is where I think Drake can continue to take a step as a leader in a face of that franchise. Hey, get your shoes back off that thing. Hey, hey, coach. And I guarantee this. Even if they don’t give you a reason, you’ll make it. You’ll make up a reason. You know what? You got Get in the locker room. We’re done today. Get off. Get off. We’re done today. Now we’re walking off like, “What are we doing? Pretty good practice.” I thought that next day we’re coming in locked in. Locked in. Locked in. So, it sounds a little like what Bill Parcels used to say to the team as well. Don’t eat the rat poison. That’s right. And he meant it. May not sound delicate, but that’s true. Hey folks, join us every Sunday 12 noon right here on the NFL today. [Music]

Bill Cowher, Matt Ryan, and Nate Burleson talk about the Patriots and Drake Maye after their big Week 8 win over the Browns #NFL #Football

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