Drake Maye Has Finally Broken His Silence About the New Patriots Coaching Staff
In between all the inane banter and inside jokes to fill air time, Peyton Manning managed to shoehorn one cogent comment about Drake Maye. "He just throws it so effortlessly." He could've mentioned accurately, powerfully, and while under extreme duress as well, but I'll allow it.
Maye doing Stupid Quarterback Tricks in Orlando right now is significant because once everything in New England starts to go according to plan, this won't be the last Pro Bowl Maye is named to, but it will be the last one he'll be attending. He'll be busy with more important things this time of year.
Which brings me back to the last time Maye did something approaching blogworthiness. And it's when he caught some minor flak from some of the undiagnosed, untreated controversy junkies in the Boston media:
Specifically, the Felger and Mazz show, which dined out for a day or so on the fact that Maye was on an island vacation instead of at the press conference in Foxboro where his new head coach was being introduced. Which in all other circumstances would mean he had a trip planned because being in the tropics beats the bag out of hanging around Massachusetts in the middle of January, and the press conference just happened to be in the middle of it.
But in the 5-D chess of getting a drive time listening audience whipped into a frenzy so they'll sit through ads for erection medicine, it could only mean the Patriots most important player is disgruntled. That at the very least he's upset about the coaching change. Or at worst, a self-entitled, petulant troublemaker who thinks he has the right to be upset about the coaching change and this spells trouble for the future of the franchise.
When of course, Maye's absence turned out to be something else entirely:
That was two weeks ago. And now that the happy couple are back in the grey, dreary, bleak hellscape we call home, Maye has finally gone on record to tell us what he really thinks of the coaches he'll be laboring away for:
Sporting News - Maye has been pretty quiet since the end of the season, but he spoke to SiriusXM this week about his new head coach.
“He reached out to me and we got on the phone. He’s been awesome," Maye said. "Obviously, [he’s] a guy who’s done it, played in the league and won a Super Bowl. You have a respect for what he’s done and seen what he’s done. I think the biggest thing is he’s been a head coach, and he knows what it’s like. So excited to get up to New England and get things going.”
The Patriots also brought Josh McDaniels back to New England for his third stint as the franchise's offensive coordinator. He'll work closely with Maye, and that's another challenge that the quarterback is excited about.
"Coach McDaniels, obviously what he's done [with the Patriots] and the success he's had, I'm fortunate to be able to have a guy come in who has done it at a high level and learn from him coaching one of the best ever -- the best ever in my opinion, Tom," Maye said. "So I have a great chance to go back -- all those years of film he has in the little database, it's all their play-calls, all Coach McDaniels' stuff and what he did with Tom. So it's fortunate for me to go back and study it up and get ready for this next season."
The trio of Vrabel, McDaniels and Maye could be the future of the Patriots for the next decade if there's legitimate growth from last season in every aspect.
One slight correction for Maye: Make that THREE Super Bowls for Vrabel. One of which he won with a pressure on Kurt Warner that caused a Ty Law Pick-6, and the other two he won with touchdown receptions. I just want to state that for the record.
But the rest of his comments will no doubt come as a shock to anyone pushing the narrative he was being a spoiled brat who took off to St. Somewhere in a snit because he was so upset the Krafts fired Jerod Mayo, Alex Van Pelt and TC McCartney or whomever. And he just couldn't bear the thought of having to face his new coach, like a kid who doesn't want to come out of his room and say Hello to mom's new boyfriend who's going to coming to live here for a while.
Gee, who would've figured he's not only OK with the switch, he's excited about it? An elite athlete from a super competitive family actually wasn't satisfied with finishing 4-13? He wasn't thrilled to be working for an in-way-over-his-head rookie head coach struggling to find his footing? Sending mixed signals and constantly having to walk back things he said publicly?
Maye didn't enjoy his teammates repeating their mental errors and generally lacking discipline?
He's actually looking forward to operating in a highly functional, innovative offense, designed by a man with 14 years of experience calling as opposed to AVP's one season, which was when Maye was in second grade? He's excited about a coach who's OC'd some of the most prolific offenses of all time? And had his voice in Tom Brady's helmet as he was perfecting the art of quarterbacking?
Absolutely stunning to consider that Maye would want more than the hand he was dealt in his rookie season. Or that he'd be excited to be ridden hard by a demanding head coach with no tolerance for bullshit and a successful track record, and operate one of the best systems ever devised by humankind by the man who's been doing it as long as anybody. And the only person as excited about this as Maye would be me.
I won't wish the spring and summer away, but camp can't start soon enough.