Drake Maye says he feels like he'd be ready to start Week 1 for Patriots

BOSTON -- Drake Maye put together another solid preseason effort for the Patriots on Sunday night, which will make for an interesting week for New England head coach Jerod Mayo. 

After running for his first touchdown of the preseason last week, the Patriots rookie quarterback threw his first touchdown pass of the exhibition slate Sunday night against the Commanders. And that wasn't even Maye's best throw of the night. 

There are now two big questions that need an answer in New England: Is Drake Maye ready to be an NFL starter, and do the Patriots believe that Drake Maye is ready to be an NFL starter? 

Maye gave his answer after Sunday's 20-10 loss in Maryland.

"Yeah, I think I would feel ready," Maye said when asked if he'd feel ready if the Patriots named him their Week 1 starter. "I think I'm ready for whatever this football team asks me.  I'm ready to get out there and help us try to beat the Bengals in Week 1."

Maye might feel ready, but the Patriots might not be ready to subject him to NFL football. At least not with their current offensive line, which struggled with protection and pre-snap penalties throughout Sunday night's loss. All signs continue to point toward veteran Jacoby Brissett as the team's Week 1 starter against the Bengals. 

Mayo even referred to Maye as the team's "second-best quarterback" after Sunday night's loss, potentially tipping his hand on the QB decision.

But Maye isn't making the decision an easy one for the first-year head coach. Maye not only outplayed Brissett during preseason action, but he looked much more comfortable while out there. The 21-year-old has only gotten better as camp and the preseason rolled on.

Maye entered the game Sunday after Brissett saw one series of action for New England, and he immediately helped the Patriots find the end zone. Going against Washington backups, Maye led the Patriots on an 11-play, 88-yard drive that ended with running back Kevin Harris taking a short pass from the quarterback and turning it into six points for New England.

The drive got off to a rough start, as backup center Nick Leverett sent a low snap to Maye on first down, forcing the quarterback to fall on the ball for an 8-yard loss. But Maye used his legs to get out of the jam two plays later, scrambling for 17 yards on third-and-14 to keep the drive alive for the Patriots.

Maye best pass of the night came earlier in the drive, when he stepped up in the pocket to avoid a Washington rush and delivered a bullet downfield for a 29-yard connection with fellow rookie Ja'Lynn Polk.

Maye hit DeMario Douglas for 16 yards on another third-down conversion to set New England up in the red zone a few plays later. Two plays after that connection, Maye hit Harris for his first passing touchdown at the NFL level. 

While Harris did the bulk of the work on the touchdown, Maye completed five of his six passes on the drive for 71 yards. 

Maye played the rest of the first half and finished his night 13-for-20 for 126 yards and his touchdown pass, but he suffered from some terrible offensive line play. In Maye's five drives, the New England offensive line was hit with four illegal formation penalties, two holding calls, a false start, and Leverett sent two bad snaps his quarterback's way.  

There was one play when Maye lost his cleat because an offensive lineman stepped on his foot, but he still completed a short pass to JaMycal Hasty.

Maye also had a 48-yard touchdown pass to KJ Osborn late in the first half, and it came on a nice play where he ran to his left to buy more time and then delivered a beautiful deep ball to his receiver. But the score was taken off the board because tackle Chukwuma Okorafor was lined up one step too far into the backfield. 

That throw will have Patriots fans feeling all sorts of feelings about their rookie quarterback. But the offensive line should have everyone concerned about the well-being of anyone playing quarterback for New England. 

For the preseason, Maye completed 21 of his 34 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown. 

While he played well, Maye went against vanilla NFL defenses that were made up of backups. And given the issues along the offensive line -- both with protection and simply lining up properly -- it might be in the team's best interest to keep Maye on the sideline to start his rookie season. 

Once the Patriots go to the rookie, there will be no turning back. It's a decision they shouldn't rush, one of the few instances where being a little late won't hurt, while being too early could be extremely detrimental to Maye's development.  

But Maye certainly made the decision much more interesting with his strong play, and the Patriots have to be feeling pretty good about the future with Maye at quarterback -- whenever that time may come. 

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