Micah Parsons Saying 'Drake Maye Has Lost Confidence' is the Wrongest Thing You'll Hear All Year
I don't have a problem with athletes trashing their opponents after a win. Which is to say I don't exactly like it. But there are times when it's entirely appropriate. Just as a recent example, Jaylen Brown deserved to be dragged through miles of horse dung after he spent the week running his mouth about Jayson Tatum and the Celtics and coudn't back it up.
But even if there's no bad blood, if dunking on the team you just beat is you're thing, you're entitled to. I prefer handshakes after a game, one combatant to another, but to each his own. Appropriate or not, you earned the right. History is written by the victors and all that.
All I ask is that whatever you say after the game is over, that it be accurate. At least somewhat true. Which is exactly what these comments from injured Packers outside linebacker Micah Parsons were most definitely not:
Yahoo Sports - During this week's segment of "The Edge" podcast, Parsons gave a scathing review of Maye's confidence levels and regression from last year.
"I think Drake Maye has lost confidence," Parsons said. "That's the difficult part that I think everyone battles with. I've seen it with Dak (Prescott), I think my second or third year. You see it with young quarterbacks."
He added, "When mistakes and wins don't come early, they kind of lose that confidence and belief in others. I don't see him trusting people the same way he was last year. He don't look like the same quarterback as last year, you know."
Parsons continued, "He's gone from potentially MVP to the struggle bus. I just think it all has to do with his confidence."
He added, "Like last year, you see him breaking out the pockets, picking up the blitzes, rolling right, making dots down the field, you know, it's spectacular catches, but it's just that they looked way more united last year on a Super Bowl run than they do currently."
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Giphy Images.
Giphy Images.
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Listen, there's a long about this Patriots team that needs sorting out. As I've said before, every time they come out of the tunnel, you don't know which team is going to take the field. The ones who handed the Bills their only loss or the one that was non-competitive in Jacksonville and home against Green Bay. The one that looked lost in the 1st half at Miami, or the one that dominated the 2nd half. They're the NFL's "Mystery Date," where you never know if they'll be a Dream (sigh), or a Dud (groan):
Yes, this was a real children's board game. A sort of Paleolithic Bumble. Now back to the blog.
But of all the things that need to be fixed on this team, Drake Maye's confidence is not one. Any more that Caleb Williams lacked confidence when he threw four picks Sunday night or Kirk Cousins did when he threw three. If Maye was losing his "belief in others," he wouldn't have battled back the way he did after that first pick and his team fell behind 17-0:
If Maye wasn't "trusting people the same way he was last year," he would've stopped throwing deep balls. Like the one Kyle Williams inexplicably stopped running after, that went through the tips of his middle fingers:
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Maye has many qualities, but self-doubt is not a trait he demonstrates. Nor should he. He's suffered more injuries around him than any other quarterback in the league. He's spent the better part of the first half of the season without his top three wide receivers. He's not only lost both starting guards, but also their backups. Not long after that touchdown, Rhamdondre Stevenson left the game, and with TreVeyon Henderson and Reggie Gilliam already out indefinitely, his only running backs were Corey Kiner and Lan Larison. And yet, here he is:
Right now he's in a two-horse race with Justin Herbert for the league lead in interceptions. And may very well "win" that race because Herbert can't last the season the way it's going for him. The way young Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers all did. And Eli Manning, whom people want in the Hall of Fame, did three times. In the past five seasons, Trevor Lawrence and Josh Allen have led the league in turnovers once. Sometimes it's all part of the growing pains of becoming an elite QB who isn't afraid to toss bombs.
And the analytics bear out the fact that, despite the relative lack of help around him, Maye has still been one of the best QBs in all of football:
… Maye ranks:
- 2nd in Dropback SUPLEX (behind only Purdy)
- 3rd in yards/DB
- 5th in EPA/DB (behind Purdy, Manning, Brees, Mahomes)
- 4th in DB SR (behind Purdy, Mahomes, Brees)
- 2nd in SR on just throws
- 3rd in explosive pass%
And to top it off he's the 8th-most efficient scrambler while scrambling at the 2nd-highest rate.
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… have forced 3 missed tackles this entire season!
Make of the data what you will. But these are not the measurements of a man struggling with a lack of faith in his ability. Or that of those around him. This is a profile of a guy who understands that he has to play Hero Ball in order to give his team any chance to win. And while the turnovers are regrettable, they're also a byproduct of all his production.
Maye is not going to play scared, because the Patriots have no shot in any given week if he's not performing miracles. Conservative, timid passing is a guarantee of defeat. At least until he gets some guys back around him who are also capable of carrying his team. I believe in Drake Maye. I say that with 100% confidence.