Five things to watch as the Patriots face the Texans in Drake Maye’s first start

The Patriots will throw Drake Maye into the fire against Houston, which leads the league in pressure rate.

Texans quarterback CJ Stroud chuckled when asked to give Patriots rookie Drake Maye advice for his first NFL start.

“Not this week,” Stroud said.

The Patriots, reeling after their fourth straight loss, opted to replace veteran Jacoby Brissett with Maye earlier this week.

They will throw Maye into the fire against Houston, which leads the league in pressure rate (42 percent) and is second in passing yards per game (272.4).

The Patriots (7-0) have never lost to the Texans at Gillette Stadium. Will New England keep its streak alive during Maye’s first start?

Here are five things to watch.

1. Maye under pressure

There isn’t much film opposing defenses can use to evaluate Maye’s tendencies.

The Texans excel at putting quarterbacks under pressure. They are in the top third of the league with 15 sacks. Five of those were on Chicago rookie Caleb Williams, whom they blitzed on 41.7 percent of his dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats.

Even veteran quarterbacks are struggling with the Houston’s pass rush, as Buffalo’s Josh Allen showed last week, going 9 for 30 with 131 passing yards and one touchdown.

Meanwhile, few teams have allowed more pressure than the Patriots. Pro Football Focus has New England’s pass-blocking grade at 47.7 percent, 30th in the league. Brissett has been sacked four times per game during the team’s four-game losing streak.

The Patriots are hoping that Maye’s athleticism enables him to extend plays and make off-schedule throws that lead to chunk yardage. Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said he was confident in Maye’s grasp of the offense, overall football IQ, and work ethic.

“We’ve got to wait and see if it happens in the game, but he’s done a good job,” Mayo said. “I feel like there’s a renewed sense of energy throughout the team, and now it just comes down to Sunday, going out there and executing.”

2. New England’s safeties

With Jabrill Peppers out indefinitely after being placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt list and Kyle Dugger nursing an ankle injury that forced him to miss practice Wednesday and be limited Thursday, the Patriots will rely on some new faces in the secondary.

Undrafted rookie Dell Pettus tied for the team lead in tackles last week with nine. Jaylinn Hawkins chipped in six solo tackles.

“I think for us, it helps those guys who are not necessarily starters gain starter reps and be able to go in there, play with confidence and earn the trust of their teammates and coaches,” defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington said. “There’s nothing like being out there on Sunday and actually gaining those reps.”

Marte Mapu, playing in his first game back from injured reserve, picked up the play-calling duties against the Dolphins.

“I think he earned the right to do that because I know he studied in the classroom and on the field,” Covington said. “That’s a smart dude. He prepares very, very well. I thought he did a great job communicating to the defense, echoing what we wanted to be echoed on the field, and for not being able to play a snap since last year he did a great job for us.”

3. Alex Van Pelt’s play-calling

Mayo said he is not considering making a switch at offensive coordinator, despite the team being second to last in scoring (12.4 points per game) and coming off a loss to the only team averaging fewer points.

Van Pelt said he was probably a little more aggressive than he needed to be in terms of calling for passing plays at times during Sunday’s loss.

He mentioned a play right before halftime when the Patriots opted to throw the ball on second and 2. He said he understands the criticism but is still torn on whether or not his call was the right one.

There was also a situation on the Patriots’ second-to-last drive when they had first and 10 on the Miami 12 with all three timeouts and threw four consecutive passes, all of which fell incomplete.

“I feel like I’ve been putting us in some good situations. I’ve had some bad calls,” Van Pelt said. “Obviously the Jets game haunts me a little bit, some of the calls in that game, but we all collectively have to be better. I have to be better in situational football and at the same time we all just need to step our game up across the board.”

4. Stroud without his top weapon

Stroud will be without his top target for a while. Houston receiver Nico Collins, who has an NFL-best 567 receiving yards, along with three touchdowns, was placed on injured reserve this week.

Houston’s passing attack remains potent with Stefon Diggs, Tank Dell, and tight end Dalton Schultz.

“I think [Diggs] is great,” Stroud said, according to ESPN. “I definitely think that he is already a leader, but you can tell in practice [Thursday] he knows his responsibility now with Nico out. That is really with all of them, everybody has to step up, even myself included, to pick up the slack where Nico isn’t playing.”

Stroud is completing 68.9 percent of his passes this season and has seven touchdowns against three interceptions.

5. A team that is where the Patriots want to be

Two seasons ago, the Texans finished 3-13. They hired a young, defensive-minded former Pro Bowl linebacker (DeMeco Ryans) as head coach, and they picked their franchise quarterback No. 2 overall.

They made the playoffs last year and are off to a 4-1 start this season, but it wasn’t that long ago that they were struggling.

They have a former Patriots executive, Nick Caserio, as their general manager. They are where the Patriots want to be, Mayo said.

“He’s done a fantastic job,” Mayo said of Ryans. “I would also say Nick has done a fantastic job with that roster as well. Another guy — talking about Nick here — who made moves early on, and no one could really tell what he was doing, and then bam, all of a sudden, they have a good roster.

“I look up to Nick. I look up to DeMeco and that entire organization, and hopefully we can replicate some of that stuff here in the near term and in the future.”

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.