Second-year quarterback Drake Maye helped the New England Patriots produce a five-game winning streak that has followers believing he may be the long-term successor to Tom Brady that the Patriots have been trying to find since Brady left the group following the 2019 season.
Throughout a latest chat with Patriots legend and present Fox persona Rob Gronkowski that the club shared on Monday, Maye opened up about coping with the stress that comes with following in Brady’s footsteps.
Drake Maye staying true to himself amid Tom Brady comparisons
“Simply making an attempt to be myself,” Maye defined, per Mike Kadlick of Sports activities Illustrated. “Do not attempt to be ‘the best of all time.’ I believe the most important factor is, I simply respect it. Respect what [Brady] did for the sport. Watching the previous tape is one in all my favourite issues to do. Perform a little Gronk cross, or hitting the seam down the center. I used to be sitting there watching the Hall of Fame speech final 12 months, [with Brady] speaking about, ‘No shortcuts.’ Simply making an attempt to drag what I can from him and respect his greatness.”
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and first-year head coach Mike Vrabel gave Maye homework throughout the offseason that concerned the 23-year-old learning how Brady performed in McDaniels’ offense. Maye has since emerged as a respectable Most Useful Participant Award candidate who helped the 6-2 Patriots climb to the highest of the AFC East standings.
Per Pro Football Reference, Maye ended Week 8 of the season main the NFL amongst certified gamers with a 118.7 passer score and a 75.2 p.c completion share. In line with StatMuse, he started Tuesday ranked third within the league with a mixed 2,276 passing and dashing yards on the marketing campaign. Solely three players tallied extra mixed passing and dashing touchdowns than Maye (17) over the season’s first eight weeks.
Drake Maye once more exhibits management whereas praising teammates
Following his rookie season, Maye was challenged by Vrabel and others throughout the Patriots to develop as a pacesetter. The signal-caller has routinely credited others for the success he has loved this fall, and he did so once more throughout a Monday look on Boston sports activities radio station WEEI.
“You aren’t shocked once you see it on daily basis in follow, and that’s what these guys do,” Maye stated about his receivers making performs throughout video games, per Meghan Ottolini of Audacy. “They put it on tape. They present it in follow. It’s my job to get them probabilities to go make performs, and it’s simply stuff to study from, from the sport. However simply maintain giving them probabilities, they usually maintain exhibiting up.”
As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Maye third among the many betting favorites at +500 odds to assert MVP Award honors for the continued common season. He’ll look to stay sizzling when the Patriots host the Atlanta Falcons (3-4) this coming Sunday.
