Drake Maye is showing early signs of a key trait, and other Final Thoughts

Maye has five touchdown passes, each to a different receiver. It's an early sign that he can elevate this group.

You know things aren’t going well when a head coach stands up in front of an international audience and says that his football team is soft.

That’s exactly what Jerod Mayo said about his football team on Sunday after the 32-16 loss to the Jaguars, and he’s spot on according to a number of his players.

But even though the Patriots are on a six-game losing streak and have lost their last two by an average of 18 points, there has been an encouraging pattern emerging in one phase of the game.

Rookie quarterback Drake Maye is showing early signs of being able to elevate his unit by spreading the ball around.

Maye has five touchdown passes, the most any Patriots quarterback has ever had in his first two starts, according to Patriots PR.

All five of his touchdown passes have been to a different receiver.

Second-year receivers DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte had never caught a touchdown pass before they played with Maye. They both have one now. Hunter Henry had been one of Brissett’s favorite targets, but he crossed the end zone for the first time this season on a pass from Maye. K.J. Osborn and JaMychal Hasty added to the total on Sunday.

And that’s not even mentioning how Maye’s mobility and decision-making allows him to extend plays and bail out the offensive line from time to time.

The Patriots’ offense has been dreadful for years, and one player isn’t enough to fix it. That’s why the ability to elevate others is such a key trait for Maye as he assumes the role of franchise quarterback. It’s also nothing new for Maye.

His high school coach Scott Chadwick told a story about the lengths Maye went to in order to ensure his teammates are involved during a video posted on the Patriots’ X account.

“Extremely coachable. He listens. He wants to get better, and he’s very smart. Drake’s junior year, we were very good,” Chadwick said. “We averaged 50 points a game that year and Drake would come over and look at the stat-sheet at halftime. My middle son was our stat guy, and I said something to him like ‘What’s Drake doing?”

“He said ‘Dad, he’s not looking at his stats’,” Chadwick added. “He’s looking to see how many balls each guy has caught in the first half. And then he would come over to me and suggest plays where the guys who hadn’t caught a lot of balls could get some balls. He was always worried about making sure he kept everybody happy.”

Keeping everybody happy is an unrealistic expectation. There are 53 players on a football roster, and a bunch of different egos and personalities.

But, this struggling Patriots team could use as much help as it can get and Maye is smart to get as many guys as he can involved. He completed passes to nine different receivers on Sunday.

“He’s got that swag,” Douglas said earlier in the week. “He came to the huddle like ‘let’s go’ and I’m like ‘let’s go’, I’m ready with you. I’d run through a wall for him. Team player. My boy Drake, we’ve got his back.”

Brian Thomas Jr. torched the Patriots’ secondary

Jacksonville receiver Brian Thomas Jr. caught the Jaguars’ only touchdown pass of the game, a six-yard slant on which he was left wide open.

The coverage on his biggest catch of the day was much better. Christian Gonzalez was step-for-step with Thomas, but Trevor Lawrence put the 58-yard deep ball right where it needed to be and Thomas was able to concentrate and come down with it.

He also caught a two-point conversion after Parker Washington’s 96-yard punt return. No other Jaguar had more than 35 receiving yards. It was just Thomas’s day. He caught all five of his targets.

Identity crisis

For the second-straight week, Maye was the Patriots’ top rusher. He tied Rhamondre Stevenson for the team lead with 18 yards. The Patriots had 38 total rushing yards.

Earlier this season, Mayo said the Patriots were not a fancy football team and that running the ball would be a significant part of their offensive identity.

After a strong start at Cincinnati in the opener, the Patriots’ run game has steadily declined to the point of being basically non-existent over the past two weeks. No Patriots running back has had more than 20 yards since the loss to the Dolphins on Oct. 6.

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.