Drake Maye throws first touchdown pass in Patriots' preseason finale
BOSTON -- After running for his first touchdown of the preseason last week, Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye threw his first touchdown pass of the exhibition slate Sunday night against the Commanders.
Maye came in after Jacoby Brissett saw one series of action for New England, and 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 had a nice completion on 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 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.
All signs are pointing toward the veteran Brissett being New England's No. 1 quarterback for Week 1 of the season. But Maye isn't making the decision an easy one for first-year head coach Jerod Mayo. But 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.