On Monday, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was back on the WEEI airwaves with WEEI Afternoons, as Patriots Monday is back for its 31st season.
That means every Monday throughout the football season, you’ll hear head coach Mike Vrabel with The Greg Hill Show, and Maye with our afternoon drive program.
If you love Boston sports, this will be appointment-listening.
For Maye’s Patriots Monday debut this season, everything was on the table from a training camp season that has shown us the highest of highs from Maye (like six straight practices without throwing a pick) as well as the lowest of lows (like the sack-fumble on Friday reminiscent of the many bad turnovers from his rookie season).
Expectations for year two of Maye under center are sky-high. This is a region that was lucky enough to watch two decades of dominance from the greatest quarterback of all-time, and the peaks of Maye’s rookie season have this fan base ready to anoint the North Carolina-product as the rightful heir apparent to Tom Brady’s throne.
And with Brady’s statue unveiling ceremony on Friday being the spectacle it was, it’s fair to wonder if the G.O.A.T.’s shadow is one Maye feels looming over him as he looks to take a step forward in his sophomore season.
“You referenced Tom Brady,” WEEI’s Andy Hart said to Maye during their interview on the practice field behind Gillette Stadium. “He was in town, did an interview on the sideline during the game, obviously got the statue pregame.
“Do you feel any pressure of ‘Tom Brady?’ Is there an aura, like a TB12 sort of hanging - especially now that there's literally a statue for the guy? Do you feel that at all?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say pressure,” said Maye. “I think it's just appreciation for what he did, what he did here, how he played the position, how he loved to win and wanted to win, and how they did win. I think that's the biggest part.
“And I think definitely just [watching] old tape of him with some of the same concepts of how he did things is pretty cool to watch. But I wouldn't say pressure. Just trying to - I was drafted maybe five years after he left here. So I wouldn't say really any pressure.”
Maye has always carried himself with a ton of confidence, and I think these comments are an extension of that.
Sure, the greatest player of all-time played the same position for the same organization. Cool.
That has no bearing on how he’s approaching the game, and how he’s trying to get better each and every day.
Maye is confident in his arm, and doesn’t want to rely on the ghosts of Foxborough past to guide him through his career at 1 Patriot Place.
It’s worth noting that Vrabel told The Greg Hill Show on Monday that Brady did not speak to the team while he was in town, and the head coach did not address the team about Brady as it related to the ceremony.
Brady not giving a speech to the team could have everything to do with league restrictions due to his ownership stake in the Raiders. That would make sense.
But Vrabel not using the pomp and circumstance of the Brady celebration as a theme to one of his speeches to the team is a bit surprising.
The “Patriot Way” is part of the reason why Vrabel is back here in New England. But it’s comments like these from Maye and Vrabel that have me wondering if the emphasis now is establishing a “New Patriot Way,” putting the six rings behind them and doing everything in their power to build towards a seventh.
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com for all the latest from Patriots training camp.