New England Patriots - NESN.com
Drake Maye and David Andrews only shared the field for a matter of minutes last season, but the longtime Patriots captain nonetheless left a lasting impression on New England’s starting quarterback.
Maye made as much clear when he met with the media Thursday, roughly a month and a half after New England released Andrews. The veteran center, who joined the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2015, was one of the team’s co-captains for Maye’s rookie season in Foxboro, Mass.
“When you think of a veteran and a leader, I think that’s kind of the standard I learned from David Andrews. He was great to me,” Maye told reporters, per a team-provided video. “He was one of the first people I met in the locker room. He was here early in the morning. The thing about David is he did things outside — took me to dinner, paid for a massage. He just does things that are bigger than football. I think that’s the stuff you carry with for the rest of your career. I wish the best to him, and he’s one of those guys I’ll keep in touch with for a long time. I think I took a couple of snaps from him at the end of that Jets game, but the next game, he got hurt. It’s a bummer I didn’t get to go out there and really battle with him. But hey, it’s the National Football League and these things happen.”
After moving on from Andrews, the Patriots signed 2019 first-round pick Garrett Bradbury to be Maye’s center for the signal-caller’s sophomore season. But if Bradbury doesn’t perform to Mike Vrabel’s liking, third-round rookie Jared Wilson could factor into New England’s plans in 2025.
And speaking of first-year players, Andrews thought the Patriots knocked it out of the park when they used the fourth overall pick on Will Campbell to be Maye’s new blindside protector.
