Drake Maye exhaled as he approached the microphone for his post-game press conference and let out a long "phew" (or something close to that). But it didn't take long before a smile came across his face. He and his teammates had survived a wild afternoon to win, 33-27, and assuage the fear that, for at least one week, this year won't be like the last.
"That feels good," said Maye.
I'd say. The Patriots were uninspiring in their season-opening loss to the Raiders. Maye's performance wasn't enough to elevate a team that will need it if they want to end up with more wins than losses this season.
But this week, the complaints should be at a bare minimum. Nit-picks, surely - Mike Vrabel did - but when you complete 19-of-23 for 230 yards and a pair of scores, plus rush for another, you're reminded what this second-year pro is capable of.
"I think there's a lot of good things and a lot of things we'll have to fix," said Vrabel after his first win as the Pats head coach. "The command, the operation, and when he feels that lull, that's when we've got to tighten the screws on these guys and get them set faster, get them out of the huddle faster, and really push them.
"I mean, he's a jockey and he's got to know what the flow of the team looks like. Offensively, we had a couple of penalties, and there were false starts and again, things that we really aren't going to be able to overcome eventually."
See what I mean? There are high expectations for what Maye can be, and Vrabel will remind the second-year pro of that. But he answered the challenge this week. Maye played with confidence, reading what the defense was giving him and taking advantage of it with extreme efficiency in the pass game and in the red zone.
"Yeah, you usually get what you emphasize," said Maye, adding he was just trying to "stay cool and calm in the huddle. Those guys respond to me, and I'm just trying to fire them up. I feel like that's my mindset every week, and it's my job to get these guys going."
He did, including in one critical moment when the Pats were clearly reeling. The offense started the second half with a 3-and-out, and that was sandwiched in between two field goal-producing drives by the Dolphins. The first one gave Miami the lead, the second increased its advantage to 20-15. A TreVeyon Henderson hold on the kick return pushed the Pats back to their own 17, and another hold - this on Jared Wilson - had the offense in a bad way. But on 3rd-and-three, Maye avoided a strong rush by Jaelen Phillips off the edge, calmly stepped up in the pocket, and floated a beauty down the right sideline to Rhamondre Stevenson. 55 yards later, the Pats were back in a rhythm, and Maye himself scored from 6 yards out two plays later.
"We've been working on that all season," said Stevenson.
"Just trust in him," said Maye of his running back. "I think we throw those kinds of routes all the time in practice and work on them. I've thrown to him after practice, working on catching over the shoulder. I thought overthrew it at first, and he made a great play."
Stevenson did, but so did Maye. The beauty of this performance on Sunday - Maye set or tied career highs in completion %, pass yards/attempt, passer rating and total TDs - was that there were no rabbits pulled out of hats, unlike, say, the Titans game last year. This was just a promising young quarterback playing good football. Maye used his brain, his arm, and those legs, and for the most part, had answers for what the Dolphins defense threw at him.
"They play a lot of zone and were matching routes," he said. "So just trying to keep them honest. And those guys up front did a great job of making lanes and cutting down rush lanes. So, like I said, just trying to do what I can."
As one of the team captains, Maye kept his head about him, even in the closing seconds of the game. After he kneeled the final snap, the 23-year-old handed the ball off to one of the equipment guys so that Vrabel could put it on his mantle, or in some trophy case to commemorate that first victory. Maye called it "awesome" and noted how much "coach cares about us." But he also took a wide view of the resilience this team showed, and what it might mean going forward.
"I think it's just proof of what the work you put in can result in, " he said. "Proof of why you work so hard, why you have extra meetings, why you get treatment on time, why you do the little things. You have proof now, we can turn out and come up in the win column. ... I'm proud of these guys."