Pats Pulpit
Maye threw an interception in the final minutes to end the Patriots’ game against the Rams.
Trailing by six points in the final minutes, Drake Maye had the opportunity to navigate a go-ahead drive. Instead, his last pass of the day was intercepted with 1:55 remaining as the New England Patriots fell 28-22 to the Los Angeles Rams.
Maye was looking for DeMario Douglas on the play, but as the receiver took off up the field he saw a football thrown behind him as he turned his head. The duo, along with head coach Jerod Mayo, chalked it up to a miscommunication.
“It was a two-high look and Pop’s up the middle, and they’re pretty good up front rushing five. I tried to kind of put it on them and kind of hit them over the linebacker, and Pop was thinking probably deep, but at the end of the day, just got to be on the same page,” Maye said post game.
Douglas echoed in the locker room: “Just miscommunication on both of us — we’ll take it.”
In the end, Maye, however, sided with Douglas’ way of thinking.
“I think Pop did the right thing, I guess, got to just talk through more conversations,” the quarterback said. “Just goes back to me during the week doing more, talking through different situations, ‘Hey, I may put this one on you versus let it rip.’ That’s about it.”
The turnover wasn’t the only costly one from the rookie quarterback, as Maye also lost a fumble on a strip sack for the third time this season. Los Angeles scored just one play later to take a 14-7 lead.
“Just can’t hurt our defense on the fumble, third down. Got to get the ball out. Can’t take a sack there,” Maye said. “Same thing I talked about in previous press conferences. Punt, ending the drive with a kick, Coach Mayo preaches ending every drive with a kick. I thought we did some good things, but at the end of the day just wasn’t good enough.”
Beyond the turnovers, it was another strong showing from Maye, who posted a career-high 282 passing yards to go with two touchdowns and 27 yards on three scrambles. That included five connections with Douglas for 59 yards.
“I think this week just scrambling to be a passer. I think not taking off so early and just tucking the football, being a scrambler, throw the ball downfield, and we’ve got good players downfield,” Maye said of his performance. “I thought I made good decisions – just the last interception.
“But I think week to week, I think we’re getting better. Proud of those guys up front for battling, and we were able to run the football pretty good at times today. Just a couple of things, I think down there in the red zone we’ve got to capitalize on.”
