Drake Maye's Teammates Describing How He's Leveled Up in His 2nd Full Season as a Starter Will Make Your Heart Glow
I wouldn't be an aging suburban dad if I didn't set some time aside every day to mention Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. If I forget to, there's a chance I might lose my privilege to buy BBQ spice rubs at the hardware store.
One of my favorite moments is when a young officer asks Russell Crowe's Captain Jack Aubrey if he ever met Admiral Nelson, the most revered of all British heroes. "[Nelson] told me a story," he says. "About how someone offered him a boat cloak on a cold night. And he said no, he didn't need it. That he was quite warm. His zeal for his king and country kept him warm." After his friend the ship's doctor rolls his eyes, Aubrey continues. "I know it sounds absurd, and were it from another man, you'd cry out 'Oh, what pitiful stuff!' and dismiss it as mere enthusiasm. But with Nelson... you felt your heart glow."
The reason I bring it up is to make the case that you can be the boldest, bravest, most intrepid leader in all the world. And still have your insides reduced to chocolate, caramel and nougat sweetness when grown men get all sentimental on you. Like, for example, AJ Brown and Drake Maye. I hear the in this interview and my insides are illuminated so much you can see my ribcage. It's like I'm ET.
It's felt like a lifetime since I've found myself as emotionally invested in a relationship as I am with these two, even though Brown only got to Foxboro three months ago. And to read this latest piece, it was love at first sight.
Source - Brown said he wasn't expecting what unfolded in one of his first Patriots meetings after being acquired in a trade from the Eagles on June 1.
"Josh was speaking and [Drake] kind of cut him off. Not in a rude way, but he just kind of took over," he said. "That said so much from a young guy -- to know what he's talking about, No. 1, and to lead and be the voice of this team. When I heard that, I was like, 'Wow.'"
Brown said it was a powerful first impression of Maye and "how much he loves his job and he studies."
And you can see why Brown is so smitten. He's clearly rebounding from a toxic relationship with his last quarterback. He managed to escape that one, and seems to have wasted no time at all finding his special someone. Someone talented. Young. Just coming into his own. Which includes learning how to be a take charge, leader of men type at the tender age of just 24.
And Maye's coaches and teammates who've been here a lot longer are seeing him take the next big step on his journey from Runner Up NFL MVP to ... well, whatever is better than that:
This is one part of the developmental plan that coaches have for Maye, who turned 24 on Aug. 30. They want to see him take more "ownership of the whole operation," according to [QB coach Ashton] Grant.
That has manifested itself in training camp. Unlike in 2025 when Maye would convene with the coaching staff after plays, this year he instead went to teammates to tell them what he liked and didn't like on a play.
[Hunter] Henry, one of Maye's closest friends on the team, has noticed the difference.
"Just from last year to this year, he's stepping up big-time, just the leadership role," Henry said. "I feel like he's doing it within himself, though. I've been preaching that to him, 'You don't have to be anybody else man. Just be you.' He's speaking up when he needs to, able to kind of elevate guys and push guys along." …
"You have to take in the realization you're a [then] 23-year-old kid and in the room with 36-year-old Morgan Moses, who's been in the league for 13 years. A.J., who's been to four Pro Bowls and named an All-Pro and Super Bowl champion. If you're not comfortable with what you're talking about, it's very hard to stand up in front of a Josh McDaniels, who's been to 10 Super Bowls, and try to overtake a meeting," Grant said.
All of which is helped by the fact he's in the same offensive system two years in a row for the first time since he was a red shirt freshman at UNC. So he's able to understand all the concepts, the calls, the options, the audibles, in ways he was still learning at this time last year:
Maye can help them by processing quickly after the snap and making smart decisions based on how the game is unfolding. Vrabel has noted Maye is more comfortable this year and the trickle-down effect it has had on his teammates.
"Once you know your job really, really well, you can help other people do their job," Vrabel said. "… I think as your knowledge increases, hopefully the details do as well."
McDaniels also noted Maye's intelligence and evolution in that area.
"The game makes sense to Drake. … He's a quick study. He's still a young player, but I'd say he's at an accelerated rate when it comes to his processing."
I've quoted this before, and I can't think of a better time to repeat it, because it might not be this way much longer. When my brother Jack (RIP) and I were celebrating on Draft Night 2024, after the Pats selected Maye, he called him "A puppy with big paws. Just wait until he grows into them." Which is clearly what we're witnessing now.
Maye's teammates and coaches are seeing a young man coming into his own greatness. In command of his offense, in both senses of the world. Both in terms of being in charge, but also having mastery of it. Making him a very different quarterback than the one the Seahawks swarmed like hornets in February. As Grant himself puts it in the same article:
"I've seen a determined guy who if he gets an opportunity at it again, he would like to right a lot of the things that went wrong for him."
That would be this Drake Maye:
Todd Rosenberg. Getty Images.
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The one who's spent the offseason learning from all that went wrong in that game and taking charge of his locker room is going to be an even better version of that guy. His assault on the world continues in just a few hours.
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