Pats Pulpit
Notes and thoughts on Stefon Diggs and Drake Maye, the Patriots’ analytics department, and more.
The New England Patriots are off until training camp, which brings the true quiet portion of the NFL offseason. As for our offseason, however, the focus shifts to minicamp wrap up and player profiles.
For everything else, let’s clean out the notebook. Welcome to the latest edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.
Before signing with the New England Patriots, wide receiver Stefon Diggs did his research on quarterback Drake Maye. The returns were positive.
“It’s crazy because when you ask around, he has a lot of similarities — well, people say through the grapevine he acts a lot like Josh [Allen]. And you know, that was my guy,” Diggs said during his Patriots introductory press conference.
“We played [Maye] last year. He shows a lot of fight. He got that fiery quarterback. I want to win myself so that’s something I get excited about and love to be around.”
Fast forward three months later throughout the Patriots offseason program, Diggs has remained impressed with the 22-year old through their limited work together.
“I like [Maye]. I can’t say too much because I haven’t been out there much, but as far as like personality-wise, he a dawg. You can tell he’s a dawg from the get-go,” Diggs said at the conclusion of minicamp. “I can see he’s committed to the process. He wants to play well. I know he’s been here all spring. ... He’s been real helpful, too.”
The adjustment to working with Maye may come easier to Diggs due to his time spent with Josh Allen; as Diggs noted a common comparison to Maye due to their dual threat playmaking ability.
But that won’t be the only advantage Diggs has from his time in Buffalo. The 32-year old comes to Foxboro already with a leg up on learning offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ playbook after playing in a similar offense in 2020-21 under then-Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, who previously held a role on McDaniels’ Patriots staff.
“100 percent. A lot of similarities,” Diggs said. “The intricacies of it is definitely a little different. They might call something different or have a different name. I always say these are the same routes I’ve been running.”
Throughout the spring, Diggs remained limited as he continues his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered last October. The 32-year old strictly participated in positional drills and would run routes on the adjacent field when work shifted into more competitive team periods.
“I’m as engaged as I can be,” Diggs said. “I can’t run a route, but I can take mental reps. I can have those conversations on what I’m thinking about. If I’ve got a question about a route, if I don’t know the play, I want to hear it. You know, just hearing it as much as I can, I think it would be good for me and spending a lot of time...
