![\"Offensive](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/patsms09_9ba308.jpg\")
Offensive tackles Will Campbell (66) and Morgan Moses look on during Monday’s practice. (Photo By Matt Stone\/Boston Herald)<\/p>\nDrake Maye drifted left away from pressure.<\/p>\n
He stepped back and cocked his arm as a defender closed.<\/p>\n
Fumble.<\/p>\n
Maye lost the ball on the final snap of the Patriots\u2019 first drive in last week\u2019s preseason opener against Washington, the lone black mark on a blowout win. After the game, coach Mike Vrabel called Maye\u2019s mistake out for what it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a bad decision,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to need better from him. I think he knows that. That\u2019s obvious. It wasn\u2019t there. We just have to be able to find a way to get rid of the football or take a sack and punt and play defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, Maye has found a way.<\/p>\n
Over four practices, including two joint sessions in Minnesota, he dropped back more than 60 times in competitive team drills and did not throw an interception or lose a fumble. The Vikings defense hounded Maye, a veteran unit that ranked second in takeaways last year and confounded veteran quarterbacks with its exotic pressure packages.<\/p>\n
Facing those same schemes, Maye absorbed just about all he could handle, feeling pressure on almost 20 dropbacks over two days. But he did not break.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he did well,\u201d Vrabel said Thursday, almost a week after Maye\u2019s preseason fumble. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to go into a blender when you\u2019re seeing a bunch of this stuff and kind of scrambling and turning one less than favorable play into a real s***storm. So, I didn\u2019t see that. I thought he was able to process. And we didn\u2019t execute all the time, but I didn\u2019t see any panic from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what about the next time Maye finds himself there, flushed outside the pocket, standing on the fine line that separates brilliant playmaking and reckless turnovers? What then?<\/p>\n
This is the time and place that may decide the Patriots\u2019 season, either over several small plays \u2014 the times Maye dances away to extend drives each week \u2014 or a single decision in the fourth quarter of a game with playoff stakes.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it will be third down. Or a two-minute drill. Who knows? Because for now, the Patriots\u2019 future is foggy except for two truths.<\/p>\n
No. 1: Maye holds the franchise in his hands.<\/p>\n
No. 2: His offensive line is bound to let him down more than most.<\/p>\n
Will Campbell and Jared Wilson are both gifted young players and rookies destined to struggle in pass protection because NFL history says all rookies do. Wilson was sidelined for Thursday\u2019s joint practice because of how poorly Wednesday\u2019s session went. He walked off the field in full pads after 20 minutes, a non-participant even in individual drills. Growing pains.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think (Campbell) and Jared (Wilson), especially up front, are learning,\u201d Maye said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be bad plays throughout practice, so just (have to ) bounce back from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Offensive tackles Will Campbell (66) and Morgan Moses look on during Monday’s practice. (Photo By Matt Stone\/Boston Herald)<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 34-year-old right tackle Morgan Moses is already having his workload managed in training camp ahead of a season when the Patriots need him to be a pillar of health and consistency. He allowed a sack in Maye\u2019s 1-minute drill to close Thursday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n
The good news is Maye can succeed outside of structure and perfect pockets. He can access throws and rushing lanes unavailable to most quarterbacks because of his mobility and natural playmaking. He can reset protections or entire plays to avoid trouble, the perks of running a Josh McDaniels offense that puts everything on the quarterback\u2019s plate.<\/p>\n
But any study of Maye\u2019s recent tape reveals a quarterback playing simply to survive at times behind bad offensive lines \u2014 his last at North Carolina and his first in New England. In that environment, bad habits beckon; habits that encourage Maye to play with abandon because why shouldn\u2019t a quarterback asked to carry his team, throw and run and score touchdowns, try to do everything all by himself?<\/p>\n
Habits that when ingrained for long enough become instinct, which is exactly how Maye described his fumble against Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yeah, it\u2019s instinct,\u201d he said. \u201cFirst time I\u2019ve gotten hit since, shoot, back in Week 17. It\u2019s instinctive. (I) try to do my best to not get hit. I\u2019m going to do my part of standing there, delivering throws.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the rub for Maye.<\/p>\n
Because the reward of extended plays \u2014 like the 12 seconds Maye used to throw a game-tying touchdown pass with no time left last year at Tennessee, or the six ticks he clocked before launching a 38-yard touchdown on fourth down at Miami \u2014 comes with inseparable risk. Risk of sacks, fumbles and interceptions; plays the Patriots cannot afford if they\u2019re to make a surprise playoff push.<\/p>\n
![\"Foxboro,](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tsnl043.jpg\")
Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye scrambles during the 4th quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane\/Boston Herald)<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a fine line between holding on to the ball too long in certain situations, and then doing the right thing to help the team,\u201d Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said this week. \u201cAnd those guys that were blessed with that ability, they\u2019re the ones that have to go out there and learn how to do that and balance it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like all quarterbacks, Maye will be the most powerful person on the field and the player most dependent on his teammates. He cannot throw his own blocks, and he won\u2019t catch his own passes. But Maye can buy his offensive line and receivers more time by scrambling outside the pocket \u2014 provided his time is spent wisely as McDaniels suggested.<\/p>\n
The push-and-pull tension of Maye playing within McDaniels\u2019 system and tapping into his playmaking outside of structure is at the heart of the Patriots\u2019 new offense. McDaniels is an adaptable play-caller who has already shaped his system to fit the 22-year-old quarterback. The Patriots are calling bootleg play-action passes, other movement throws and a wider array of run-pass options. Smart.<\/p>\n
Before this season, McDaniels had never worked with a starting quarterback quite like Maye, a daring artist who paints with long-odds strikes and crafty arm angles. McDaniels, in fact, has made a career partnering with polar opposite passers: Tom Brady, Mac Jones and Derek Carr, all pocket-bound players who were generally risk-averse. Taming \u2014 but not eliminating \u2014 Maye\u2019s wild stallion impulses will be a major part of McDaniels\u2019 job this season.<\/p>\n
Maye has taken well to the system and McDaniels\u2019 training so far. He\u2019s throwing the ball away. His interception rate through 16 training camp practices is 1.5%, which last season would have ranked 10th among starting quarterbacks. One of his interceptions was tipped at the line. Progress.<\/p>\n
But to reach their ceiling, the Patriots will need Maye to test the bounds of his creative limits, which can only be found outside of play design. There, risk and reward await in equal amounts, and defenses will be waiting after Maye posted a 57.6 passer rating and completed 42% of his passes outside the pocket as a rookie.<\/p>\n
A year ago, the Patriots often trailed in those moments, meaning Maye not only had to contend with poor support from his offensive line and receiving corps, but opponents that ran defenses specifically to exploit them. Maye solved a lot of those problems by rushing for more than 400 yards, all on scripted pass plays. Not a single designed run called.<\/p>\n
McDaniels claimed the Patriots haven\u2019t discussed if or how they will try to limit Maye\u2019s exposure on those scrambles, one of which led to a concussion last October.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is those (scramble) plays are hard to predict when they\u2019re going to come up,\u201d McDaniels said. \u201cYou know, the other night (against Washington), we didn\u2019t call a pass play for him to scramble for our first down, but he did. It was a good play. So I think he just has to understand when there\u2019s nothing there and he has an opening, what to do with the ball. I think he\u2019s really improved.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the improvement cannot stop. Sometime soon, Maye will again drift left away from pressure. And whether he\u2019s scrambling to run, scrambling to throw or simply buying time before a throwaway, more often than not, it must be the right decision. The disciplined play. The right one.<\/p>\n
The ball is in Maye\u2019s hands, and so is the Patriots\u2019 fate this season.<\/p>\n
Quote of the Week<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you really believe that, Phil (Perry)? I mean, you\u2019re a smart guy. I don\u2019t know where you went to school \u2013 it wasn\u2019t Ohio State. But, like, do you really believe that? Do you really believe that, Phil, or are you just trying to bait me into something?\u201d \u2014 Patriots coach Mike Vrabel answering a question Thursday about Stefon Diggs casting uncertainty about his Week 1 availability during a recent podcast appearance<\/p>\n
Originally Published: August 12, 2025 at 5:53 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drake Maye drifted left away from pressure. He stepped back and cocked his arm as a defender closed.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[833,7,6441,838,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-292895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-drake-maye","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-josh-mcdaniels","11":"tag-mike-vrabel","12":"tag-new-england","13":"tag-new-england-patriots","14":"tag-newengland","15":"tag-newenglandpatriots","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115038840953272003","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}