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Jerod Mayo came away impressed with Drake Maye in his first start. So much so that he felt some remorse for the rookie quarterback following the New England Patriots' 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans.
The Patriots coach was blunt in his assessment of the New England's performance outside of Maye on Sunday, saying that the team failed him.
“I thought he showed a lot of poise,” Mayo told reporters. “I thought he went out there and controlled the huddle, got those guys out of the huddle and once again, made some plays. It's definitely encouraging. From a team-wide perspective right now, we let him down. It was his first game, and I feel like I let him down.”
“I'm sure all the coaches feel like we let everyone down,” Mayo continued. “We've just got to be better.”
Maye didn't necessarily have the most spectacular outing on Sunday, but he gave the Patriots a handful of moments to be optimistic about. He completed 20-of-33 passes for 243 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions with an 88.3 passer rating. He also gained 38 yards on five scrambles, but he also had a lost fumble.
In relation to how the Patriots' offense has performed this year, Maye's performance on Sunday was arguably the best of any player on the offense in 2024. New England's offense also set a season-high in points scored while Maye threw for more touchdowns in Sunday's game than Jacoby Brissett did in the Patriots' first five games combined.
Mayo seemed all-around impressed with the third overall pick's performance.
“I thought Drake made some good decisions out there,” Mayo said. “I thought he had some good reads. I thought he tried to get the ball out of his hands. I thought he did a good job extending plays with his legs, picking up first downs. Just got to be better.”
Jerod Mayo backs Drake Maye after first start
One of the major points against starting Maye this early in the season was the state of the Patriots' offensive line. Their offensive line has had a different starting combination in each game this season due to injuries. They also gave up 19 sacks through the first five weeks while Brissett had the highest pressure rate of any quarterback in the league.
Maye took four sacks on Sunday, with his lost fumble coming on a strip sack. However, Mayo believed the offensive line did at least an adequate job of giving May the requisite time to make plays.
“There were some good pockets to start with up front,” Mayo said. “I thought the offensive line at times definitely had some good pockets to allow the quarterback to make those throws. But once again, it's a team-wide sport, and we don't feel very good about anything right now.”
Maye certainly had a pocket good enough to make a deep throw on his first career touchdown pass, launching a 40-yard touchdown to Kayshon Boutte right before halftime. Plays like that gave Mayo optimism that the rookie will continue to progress.
.@DrakeMaye2's first @NFL TD is to @KayshonBoutte1 🏈
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/Oi7BpFvq6H
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 13, 2024
“We fully anticipate or expect him to be better going forward,” Mayo said when asked about the touchdown throw to Boutte. “It was his first start. Obviously here at home there was a lot of expectations on him. I thought he handled it well. Got to build on it.”
Mayo didn't give a letter grade on Maye's performance, but it certainly sounded like he would've given him a high grade if he did.
“His reads were good all day,” Mayo said of Maye. “I thought his reads were good. I'll watch the film, obviously, but I thought he did a good job.”
