Sunday Patriots Notes: Drake Maye is a completely different QB now

Amid a five-game losing streak, the New England Patriots travel across the pond to London to face the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium.

As Drake Maye looks for his first win as a starter, let's clear this week's notebook of the week Sunday Patriots Notes.

1. Maye's mental game: To the naked eye, Drake Mayes' first career start in the NFL looked similar to his time in North Carolina. Deep touchdowns, first-down scrambles, off-script plays, etc. etc. etc.

But to those who worked closely with Maye behind the scenes during training camp and the start of the regular season, the rookie is a very different quarterback. “Completely different,” said his offensive coordinator.

A lot of that has to do with Maye's mental work, which continues to shine on the practice field and on the field.

“We had a phase (Wednesday), another start phase against our defense, good against good in the red zone,” said offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. “I didn't give him an answer on a zero-blitz look that the defense presented, and he bailed himself out with the right protective adjustment and route change and threw a touchdown.

“So for me – wow. He can get in there and protect himself. He knows the calls to make. I don’t know if we would have been able to do that in Week 1.”

Maye began the season as a reserve player, watching veteran Jacoby Brissett both on and off the field for the first five weeks of the season. This gave the 22-year-old time to further develop the mental side of his game – which was initially an underrated trait of his by many draft experts.

When Maye took the field last Sunday, one area of ​​growth stood out.

“I think the biggest thing is the running controls and the different looks that help us have the best run. I think that's the biggest thing. Watching Jacoby do it and bring in people blocking the right people, I feel like I didn't really see that until I watched the movie. I feel like I did almost everything asked in the run game and the correct execution.

“I think that was the biggest relief, seeing all the different running looks under center, seeing it and locking the guys down. So I just have to keep doing this. I think I saw the passing game well and I just needed to make some better throws.”

Since Mayes' arrival in April, coaches and teammates have been impressed with his work in the classroom. Van Pelt saw no change in the rookie's approach and was named the starter, which may have played a big role in Maye throwing for 243 yards and three touchdowns in his starting debut.

“He is very natural. He is a born leader. He’s a great learner,” Van Pelt said. “Very intelligent guy who can ask great questions in the meeting rooms. He has everything you could want in a young quarterback. I think a big part of it was watching Jacoby's preparation over the first five weeks, seeing how the quarterback room works at the pro level, what questions need to be asked, what concerns and comments come up throughout the week are heard. I think that just helped him get an idea of ​​how to go through meetings and ask the questions that he needed to answer.

“But very impressive with his approach. He studies hard at night, you can tell. When you call out a new piece in a Wednesday rehearsal, he's already digested the vocabulary and can spit it out easily, so I know he's putting in the work. Over the course of the evening you receive texts about certain looks – 'What does this mean when?' Do they do that?' or ‘What do I need to do for this look?’ So I know he’s taking the time.”

2. Youthful Energy: Alex Van Pelt is in his 29th season in the NFL as a player or coach. Although the coordinator is impressed with Maye's work ethic, he often has to remind himself that the rookie is only 22 years old.

“Absolutely, he’s a young puppy,” Van Pelt said when asked if Maye brought a youthful energy. “My daughters are 22 and 25, so I have to put that into perspective. He is still young. He has this youthfulness about him. But again, from a professional perspective, he’s doing the right thing to prepare every week.”

3. International success: The Patriots will play their fifth international game this week, tied for the fourth-most in the NFL. New England is currently 3-1 in the NFL's International Series, with its only loss coming last year against the Colts in Germany.

In the Patriots' last two games in London, they allowed just one touchdown and scored over 30 points in each of those games.

4. London Support: Standing at Winston Churchill's old boarding school in London on Friday, both head coach Jerod Mayo and quarterback Drake Maye were asked why NFL fans in the UK should follow and support the Patriots.

“One thing I would say is that we are hitting the reset button and looking forward to building something special,” Mayo responded. “Building the next dynasty starts with the draft and development, of course, but also with free agency. We want to get back to the top here soon.”

Maye took a different approach with his answer.

“First of all, I think it comes from the team name New England. I think it’s easy for British fans to be drawn to that,” he said. “Our colors are pretty sweet; They represent many different things. From then on there was just a sense of excitement for the team. I think we're on the rise and we've got a lot of things to look forward to, a lot of bright future prospects. Kudos to all the fans here who are already Patriot fans and we look forward to more.”

5. 30 points: Speaking of 30 points, the Patriots have the longest streak in the NFL, having gone 34 games without scoring more than 30 points. This dates back to Bailey Zappe's second career start against the Browns on October 16, 2022, where the Patriots posted 38 points.

London could be a good time for New England to end its streak, as the Jaguars' struggling defense allowed 35 points to fellow rookie quarterback Caleb Williams last week.

“Watching Caleb, I had a big win over the Jags out here and I just saw – I think Caleb made some plays on the move. The biggest thing about him was I think he made some nice throws,” Maye said Friday. “That's the thing last week where I felt like I had some throws that I wish I had back.

“But as always, I think it’s pretty cool watching the Texans handle Caleb and now watching the Jags see what they did against rookie quarterbacks. It’s good for me to watch what they do.”

6. Quick Start: The Patriots have faced first quarter deficits in each of their last four games, which is why they highlighted quicker starts in practice this week. This included a “start fast phase” to begin training, in which the top offense competes against the top defense from the start.

One idea to address this issue could be to put the offense on the field first when the opportunity arises, as New England has postponed the four times it has had the choice this season.

7. Polk's Struggles: After last Sunday's game, Jerod Mayo noted that rookie Ja'Lynn Polk, who had two shutouts, had to overcome “mental rock bottom.” In a conversation this week with MassLive's Mark Daniels, the freshman said he has “no mental health issues” and is “limited” in what he can do currently.

While only Polk knows what he means by “limited,” it may be a fair assumption to point out his role. Although Polk primarily played the Z/slot role in college, he was frequently used at X early in the season.

“We're trying to find the best people we can use right now, the three people who work best together. This combination, just like the O-line, could change from week to week, including positionally,” Van Pelt said Thursday. “I thought he could give us the best chance at the But he can also do great things in the slot. Also the Z

“He's a very smart guy. He can play multiple positions. So for us as a staff it’s about finding the parts that work best together and how we can use those people considering their skills.”

Van Pelt also noted that the offense asked Polk a lot, which can be tough for any rookie. New England may look to lighten the load on the receiver, but is still confident he can overcome the mental hurdle.

“Success always gets you over it. He had a few drops in the game, which was out of character for him,” Van Pelt said. “He’s a rookie. At the moment it's all young people. I just have to find a way to overcome this and get back to focusing on what he's good at, and that's a lot of things.

“But he will play for us later this year, there is no doubt about that.”

8. Layden's Return: After starting the first four games of the season, rookie guard Layden Robinson returned to the bench in Week 5 before landing on the inactive list last week. Due to injuries elsewhere on the offensive line, Robinson is now expected to return to the starting lineup this weekend.

“The first thing I would say is that Layden is one of the hardest training guys on the team. He always shows tremendous effort,” said Mayo. “Sometimes you hit a wall and he’s gone through that wall and he’s going to play tomorrow. He is a very tough player and I am also looking forward to his future.”

That sets the stage for a starting offensive line: LT Trey Jacobs – LG Michael Jordan – C Ben Brown – RG Layden Robinson – RT Mike Onwenu – which will be New England's seventh starting offensive line combination in as many weeks.

9. Left Center: Elsewhere on the offensive line, New England added interior depth with Lecitus Smith after releasing Nick Leverett. Smith, who is signed from the Packers' practice squad and is slated to serve as the top backup this week, is unique as a left-handed snapper.

“He has advantages. Again, we view the training squad as a place where we want to develop these players. Hopefully they become a starter or rotation player at some point,” Mayo said of Smith. “I learned left-handed snapper, it’s a little different. I never knew that, which I found interesting. This guy definitely has the potential to be a good player for us.”

10. Preparations for the coming week: Despite being across the pond, the Patriots will not have a release week upon returning to the states. They will return to work for a normal week, practicing Wednesday through Friday as they prepare to welcome Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams and the New York Jets to Foxboro in Week 8.