Pats Pulpit
After an uninspiring opening loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the New England Patriots quickly turned the page to Week 2.
That was not before corrections were made, however, which resulted in three key areas of improvement for quarterback Drake Maye: start faster, hit the open receiver, and execute better in the red zone.
Those will be the priorities as the Patriots travel down to Miami to face the Dolphins on Sunday.
“Just taking the next step. Part of it’s moving on, part of it’s learning from stuff throughout the game,” Maye said Wednesday. “Get off on a better start; the first drive was a three-and-out. We had good field position on that first possession. So, find a way to start faster. That’s kind of a theme for the team, start faster. From there, just some throws I’d like to have back. I feel like I say that every game, but particularly ones where I feel like I had guys open. Down in the red zone, be better down in the red zone where it’s decision making on my part, accuracy or just in general. We’ve got to score touchdowns when we’re down in the red zone.”
Against the Raiders, the Patriots went a measly 4-for-14 on third-down and 1-for-3 in the red zone. But Maye’s accuracy proved to be the bigger issue. His first pass of the game sailed high over the head of DeMario Douglas, setting the stage for several more sprays throughout the afternoon.
It wasn’t all bad, however, as Maye had several high level throws en route to a single-game best 287 passing yards.
“I think just some of them, I was rushing them. I think I see them and kind of rush it to try to get it out to him as quick as I can,” Maye explained. “The one to Pop [DeMario Douglas], he was getting close to the sideline with kind of a trapped corner there, so I tried to get it out as quickly as I could to him to get the first. But from there, I feel like I’ve been throwing it pretty well and seeing it well. So, I think sometimes there’s throws that, like I said, you just, ‘Man, that could have helped us.’ I feel like I made some pretty good throws throughout the game that I felt good about accuracy-wise.
“So yeah, I’m not going to over-harp on too much, but at the same time, you’ve got to hit guys when they’re open, so it’s an even kind of balance. But yeah, definitely, accuracy is one of the biggest things at quarterback. So, being accurate is what I take pride in, and you can’t miss open guys.”
Under a new offensive coordinator and with a new supporting cast, growing pains were to be expected for Maye, who made his 13th career NFL start on Sunday.
But improvements must come, and the unit has a strong opportunity to turn it around this week against a Dolphins defense that...
