What Drake Maye, Jerod Mayo said of Patriots QB’s knee injury ahead of London game

Maye will play in Sunday's game, but he and his head coach provided little details on his knee injury.

The latest on Drake Maye’s knee injury: The Patriots’ rookie quarterback is downplaying any concerns about the injury that placed him on the injury report this week ahead of his second career start.

Drake Maye said he’ll play in Sunday’s Patriots game against the Jaguars in London.

“I’m feeling good,” Maye told reporters on Friday shortly after the team landed in England. “These last two days, I feel good out there at practice. I’m feeling good now. Ready to go Sunday.”

Maye wound up on the injury report on Wednesday, being listed as a full participant at that day’s practice. However, he underwent an MRI on his knee following practice that day, The Boston Globe‘s Ben Volin reported.

While the injury and ensuing report raised some alarm bells, Maye was spotted without a brace or any other bandages at Thursday’s practice in Foxborough. He wasn’t wearing a brace when he took the podium in England on Friday.

It’s unclear when Maye might have suffered the knee injury. Maye made sure to keep that a secret.

“I think injuries are something that you don’t really try to share with the media,” Maye said. “So just looking forward to Sunday.”

Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said something similar when asked about the timeline of Maye’s injury, with each of them opting not to confirm whether the quarterback underwent an MRI.

“I’m not sure if it was a residual from the [Texans] game or not,” Mayo said. “What I will say is he looks good, he’s been out there at practice taking the majority of the reps.”

Maye was sacked four times and hit eight times in the Patriots’ 41-21 loss to the Texans on Sunday. There was one hit, in particular, where he seemed to move a bit more gingerly after getting up, moving a bit slowly after Texans edge rusher Danielle Hunter hit him on the side for a strip sack. But Maye seemed to be favoring his shoulder more than his knee following the hit.

Beyond the sacks and hits, Maye had some impressive moments in his first start. He completed 20 of 33 passes 243 yards and three touchdowns to go with a team-high 38 rushing yards. On the flip side, Maye threw two interceptions and had the aforementioned lost fumble.

Still, Maye’s insertion into the lineup provided the Patriots with arguably their best offensive performance of the season in Week 6. Their 21 points scored were a season-high while Maye’s three touchdown passes were more than what Jacoby Brissett threw in the first five games.

In his second start, Maye’s hoping to lead the 1-5 Patriots to their third win in London.

“I don’t think we’ve lost over here [in England] yet, so we’re trying to keep that same motto and hope we come out here with a win on Sunday,” Maye said.

Trivia: Sunday will mark the Patriots’ fifth game as part of the NFL’s International Series, moving them into a tie for the third-most games played on foreign soil. Which two teams will have played more games than them outside of the country after Sunday’s game?

(Hint: Both teams are on their schedule this season.)

Results and schedule

The Bruins were off on Thursday after getting a 5-3 win over the Avalanche on Wednesday. They continue their three-game road trip by making their first-ever trip to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Hockey Club at 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Boston College nearly erased a 28-0 deficit against Virginia Tech on Thursday, but ultimately lost, 42-21. The 4-3 Eagles host Louisville next Friday.

The Patriots flew to London overnight Thursday into Friday ahead of their game against the Jaguars on Sunday. Kickoff for that game is set for 9:30 a.m.

The Celtics are still off after playing their final preseason game on Tuesday. They tip the 2024-25 NBA season off on Tuesday when they host the Knicks.

Read more from Boston.com

The Guardians get dramatic win in Game 3 of ALCS

The Yankees and Guardians traded late-inning home runs in Thursday’s Game 3 in Cleveland. First, Yankees star Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the eighth to tie the game, 3-3, before Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo home run in the next at-bat to give New York a 4-3 lead.

After the Yankees scored another run in the ninth, the Guardians were down to their last out and were facing a 3-0 deficit in the series. With a runner on, Guardians slugger Jhonkensy Noel hit a game-tying homer to send the game to extras.

The Guardians were able to shut down the Yankees in the top half of the 10th inning. After getting a runner to third base with two outs, David Fry crushed a homer to left field to give the Guardians a 7-5 win and their first win in the ALCS.

On this date

The Red Sox know a thing or two about coming back in an ALCS game against the Yankees. In the early hours of Oct. 18, 2004, David Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning off Paul Quantrill to help the Red Sox win Game 4 and stave off elimination.

You likely know the rest of the story. But later on Oct. 18, the Red Sox came back from a 4-2 deficit in Game 5 to send the game into extra innings. After hitting a homer in the eighth inning, Ortiz was the hero again in the 14th inning. He hit a mae-winning single to score Johnny Damon from second base for a 5-4 win and cut the Yankees’ series lead to 3-2.

Of course, the Red Sox went to New York and won the next two games, becoming the first team in MLB history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Twenty years later, the 2004 Red Sox remain the only team to comeback and win a series from a 3-0 deficit.

Trivia answer: Jaguars (13 after Sunday’s game) and Dolphins (six)