On Tuesday, NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran made his weekly visit with Jones and Keefe, where the guys discussed all things Drake Maye as the quarterback remains among the league-leaders in MVP odds through 11 games this season.
On deck for the Patriots (9-2) in Week 12 - a Bengals team (3-7) that is likely to be missing wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase to a one-game suspension while also still being without quarterback Joe Burrow.
As of publishing, Chase is officially appealing the suspension with the league. He’s likely going to lose this bid, and will be stuck missing Week 12 while backup quarterback Joe Flacco continues trying to keep the Bengals afloat. Burrow is still rehabbing from undergoing toe surgery on September 14, and is likely to make his return to game action in Week 13 or 14.
With the Bengals on tap and still down a starting QB, it was only natural that this week’s “Drake Take” from Curran centered around the juxtaposition of Burrow and Maye:
Adam Jones: “Joe burrow versus Drake Maye could have been the matchup on the field this week. Doesn't sound like that's going to be the case. Burrow turns 29 in December. He is missing a bunch of games for the third time in his career. A lot of people are worried about Drake Maye missing games, given his play style, but he's in his early 20s, he's an MVP candidate. If you were going to start a franchise right now - Joe Burrow or Drake Maye, who would you start with?”
Tom E. Curran: “I would take the 23 year old player who doesn't get hurt all the time in a heartbeat. And Joe Burrow is tremendous, and I love the way he plays at the end of games, and his confidence and his athletic ability. But he just gets hurt too much, and that has absolutely punctured Cincinnati's hopes season after season since their Super Bowl appearance. So I would 1,000,000% take Drake Maye.
“And when you look at the 11 games played this season, the only time the Patriots have lost are when Drake Maye didn't play at his best. No one has yet to really beat Drake Maye [at his best]. I mean, the unforced errors against the Raiders and the unforced errors against Pittsburgh were kind of on him. The nature of the picks, the nature of the fumble and pick against the Raiders, those were on him. So to me, I look at his performance and say, ‘The team could be 11-0 if you didn't have - and you're allowed to have an off game in your second season in the league, especially early in the year. But there's very few guys that I would take in the league ahead of Drake Maye, if any, based upon his age.
“Now, if you want to say who would you take for the rest of the season to be your quarterback for a team, I'd still have a hard time. But I don't think I would be able to say Drake Maye over Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, based upon what we've watched over the last six years for both of those guys. But I don't know if [there’s] anybody I would take for the combination of toughness, leadership on field, tone and athleticism over Drake Maye.”
Sunday will mark Maye’s first game playing in Cincinnati, as he was just the backup in 2024 when Jacoby Brissett helped lead the Patriots to a miraculous 16-10 win over the Bengals in Week 1 to start the Jerod Mayo Era off 1-0.
If only we knew back then what we knew now…
Heading into that one, the Patriots were the biggest underdogs in the league for the Week 1 slate. Heading into this one, they’re now all the way up to a 7.5-point road favorite at FanDuel, sitting on the moneyline at -300.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.