New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has certainly gotten off to an impressive start during his rookie campaign, displaying surprising dual-threat capabilities.
But the Patriots may not be too thrilled with Maye's chops in the running game.
More specifically, New England is not crazy about the idea of the young signal-caller taking extra hits, and head coach Jerod Mayo has made that very clear.
“Well, our message to Drake — and we’ve had multiple conversations about this — is to maintain being a quarterback as long as possible, and that’s what we expect,” Mayo said, via Keagan Stiefel of NESN. “Now, in saying that, absolutely, there will be game-plan runs at a certain time. We’re still evolving as an offense, and I think Drake is continuing to get better. So, we’ll put more on his plate.”
The Pats don't have to look any further than Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis to see what can happen when a quarterback constantly takes on defenders in the open field, and they obviously want Maye to avoid the unnecessary contact.
Maye supplanted Jacoby Brissett as the Patriots' starting quarterback in mid-October. Through seven appearances and six starts, he has thrown for 1,236 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 66.7 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 87.5.
Additionally, the 22-year-old has rushed for 260 yards and a score, averaging a robust 9.3 yards per carry.
New England selected Maye with the No. 3 overall pick of the NFL Draft back in April, and while there were legitimate questions surrounding the University of North Carolina product at the time, it's looking more and more like the Pats may have found their quarterback of the future.
That's why protecting Maye is paramount for the Patriots.
