In the spirit of giving this holiday season, let’s talk about all the gifts Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye has been giving out throughout his time as the team’s starter!
Since taking over under center in Week 6, Maye is tied for third-most turnovers in the NFL with 15 overall. That 15 is made up of 5 lost fumbles and 10 interceptions.
According to StatMuse, the next closest rookie to Maye is Broncos QB Bo Nix, who is tied for sixth-most with 11 turnovers of his own. Bears rookie signal caller Caleb Williams is tied for seventh with 10, and Rookie of the Year favorite Jayden Daniels of Washington is tied for ninth in the league with only 8 turnovers to his name.
It’s important to note that Williams, Daniels and Nix were all named as their teams’ starting QB heading into Week 1, yet Maye is up four on his next closest peer despite playing in far fewer games.
Playing on the team with the worst record among his four fellow first-round quarterbacks probably (definitely) has something to do with this, but there’s no denying that Maye plays with an air of recklessness at times that gets him in trouble at least once a game.
It’s that same recklessness that has led to the handful of highlight plays we’ve seen from this team all season long, like the final play in regulation down in Tennessee that forced overtime, or that shovel pass from inside the 4 yard line to DeMario Douglas against Arizona that was as Mahomes-ian a touchdown as we’ve ever seen from a New England quarterback.
The juice is worth the squeeze when it comes to turnovers from a playmaker like Maye, even if that’s not the easiest thing to realize when his team is sitting at 3-12 with two games remaining in the 2024 slate.
But on Tuesday, Maye was asked if he felt like his turnovers were a result of him pressing, trying to make plays for an offense perpetually playing from behind.
“I know you want to be aggressive, but at the same time, do you have to kind of guard against, perhaps, trying to do too much?” asked Karen Guregian of MassLive. “You know, maybe some of those turnovers are the result of you trying to do a little too much, trying to make a play?”
“Yeah - I wouldn't say that,” said Maye. “I don't think it's really that I'm scrambling outside the pocket and heaving one up. I think it's within the offense. I think some unfortunate things have happened with the turnovers, and I think some of them definitely fall on me.
“I think there's definitely a way we need to cut down turnovers. That starts with me protecting the football and throwing it incomplete or throwing it in the dirt or little things like that. I'm still going to be aggressive. That's the way I play and I think it's in the long run going to be good for us.”
Guregian posed a similar question to first-year head coach Jerod Mayo, whose operation as a whole has given up the eighth most turnovers in the league this season with 21.
“Look - Drake is a competitor, and he's always going to try to go out there and make plays,” said Mayo. “I think just the way that he's played, how well he's played this year, oftentimes we forget that he's a rookie quarterback.
“Those are lessons learned. I've been very upfront about this; the intangible with Drake, besides his even demeanor, is he's learned from his mistakes, and I expect that to continue going forward.”
New England’s opponent on Saturday is the Los Angeles Chargers (9-6), who rank eighth in the NFL in takeaways this season with 19 overall.
Let’s see if Maye is in the giving mood post-Christmas to a defense that is more than happy to add to their stockpile.
That game kicks off at 1:00 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium, and New England is currently listed as a 4-point underdog at BetMGM.
While that home underdog distinction is never a good sign, that point spread is notable, as the number has shrunk from +5.5 to +4 in less than 24 hours.
We’ll continue to monitor this market as the week progresses.
Merry Christmas!