FOXBOROUGH - By my count, only nine of Drake Maye's 54 runs last year were on designed plays for him to tuck it and go. His offensive coordinator, Alex Van Pelt, wasn't keen on exposing the rookie quarterback to any more hits than he was already facing. I understood why. That patchwork group struggled to tie their shoes, let alone protect the team's most important asset.
But with Van Pelt long gone and hard to find - he's an advisor for the Rams - the new OC, Josh McDaniels, may be more willing to lean into that aspect of the game.
During Tuesday's fully padded practice, McDaniels called a read option near midfield - Kyle Williams missed a block to blow up the play - and later a speed option from the 5-yard line. Maye had the edge crash down on him and pitched the ball to Rhamondre Stevenson for a walk-in touchdown (Kayshon Boutte did a nice job on the corner).
“Josh has explained he wants to use our skill set and athleticism at the QB position as another way to keep the defense on their heels,” said backup QB Joshua Dobbs. “And so obviously, situationally, when we need it, we’ll be able to pull it out and make plays with our legs. But outside of that, we’ll make sure we’re in the right play to pick defenses apart. And definitely, we just want to have forward momentum every time we take the field.”
McDaniels has also called several bootlegs in practice, not just for Maye but for Dobbs as well. Hell, a Dobbs fake on Monday was so good I thought he actually handed the ball off. Based on the defense's reaction, I wasn't the only one.
This speaks to McDaniels' willingness to adapt to the personnel, if not the verbiage, to what he has at his disposal in that quarterback room. Look no further than what he was able to draw up with Covid Cam Newton in 2020. That was a player whose arm no longer functioned at an NFL level. The veteran play caller had to figure out a way to move the ball, and leaned heavily on the 255-pounder's battering ram of a body. Newton ran the ball 137 times that season, and only 20 of those attempts were off scrambles.
Maye doesn't possess the same body type; few have ever looked like that at the position. But as we witnessed, and certainly if you watched him in college, the 22-year-old is a damn good athlete. McDaniels will have to teach Maye how to better protect himself. This offense would be challenged without him, but this coaching staff will loosen the reins if the kid gets it.
"He’s athletic,” said Dobbs of Maye. “We watched a couple of his tapes from last year, like scrambles, making throws on the run, and we all know the type of arm that he has. He’s able to make plays outside of the scheme of the offense.
"I think we all bring that skill set to this offense, and that’s what’s really exciting. And so now it’s like, ‘how can we use that situationally when the defense gets us, rarely, how can we make a play when something isn’t there, but also take care of the football?'”
The latter comment is also imperative for Maye. 19 turnovers in 13 starts (and just 11 finishes) is too much. That's why it was encouraging to see Maye purposefully throw the ball away multiple times during a lengthy 7-on-7 period during Tuesday's session. Without the benefit of the practice tape, I can't tell you if Maye missed any open receivers before making the decision to put the ball in the first row of the stands. However, I can tell you he wisely didn't pull any cowboy bleep that could cost the team points. That's progress.
STEADY AS HE GOES
Mike Vrabel is not one to make comparisons. But a question about Hunter Henry led the Patriots' head coach to take that road, equating Henry's steadying hand to one of the best players he coached in Tennessee, two-time All-Pro safety Kevin Byard.
“Kevin was really confident and comfortable. He never looked stressed," Vrabel said of Byard. “You would look and see some younger players maybe at the same position, and they’d be sweating before the play would start. They were making checks and everything else and running. And Kevin just always had a very calm, confident demeanor and was an excellent player for us.
“I feel the same about Hunter. Anything that you ask him to do, it comes very easy and he’s very instinctive and he’s got a good feel for the game. So, those are all positives, and I think that leads to his consistency.”
Henry was all smiles when that comparison was relayed to him.
“It means a lot to hear him say that. I try to bring that every single day," he said.
Henry came to Foxborough during Bill Belichick's free agent spending spree. Most of those big-money players that signed that same offseason are no longer around, but the tight end remains. It hasn't been easy. Back-to-back 4-13 seasons have taken their toll - it cost both Belichick and then Jerod Mayo their jobs. I asked Henry how he's managed to remain upbeat.
"I actually think I’ve grown more in the last two years than I have in the last, probably, 28 years of my life, to be honest,” he responded (Henry is 30) “There’s not a lot of success, but in those times I feel like I’ve seen the most growth in those valleys.
"I feel like when you really dig in the valley and grow and really continue to keep pushing and keep pushing, something good is going to come on the other side of it."
Henry felt something similar when he had to spend the 2018-19 season on injured reserve, rehabbing from a torn ACL. Now, he's healthy and coming off a career-high 66 catches, and you can feel his optimism that the struggles of the past will be just part of the journey to a better and more successful place for this football team.
