One bad half of football hasn’t changed the way the Baltimore Ravens view Drake Maye.
“He's their best player,” defensive coordinator Zach Orr said, “and he's really blossomed into one of the top quarterbacks in his second year, which is impressive.”
"I think he is playing on a high level, on an elite level," safety Alohi Gilman said.
“He’s had a great year,” admired fellow safety Kyle Hamilton, “He’s only in his second year, right? He’s probably going to be a problem in this league for a long time.”
There’s no concern about who Maye is or what he’s about in Foxborough, either. That’s not a newsflash for any of us who have been watching or talking to the folks that matter, but it’s always nice to be reassured.
“I think Drake's done an amazing job of learning from every opportunity,” Josh McDaniels told us on Thursday about the young quarterback’s second-half struggles on Sunday versus the Bills. “I think the same thing we said in training camp is true today. We either win or we'll learn from it, and I think that he's a great embodiment of what that means, because everything that we didn't do well in the game, I know he's going to try to do everything he can to learn from it, so that we don't make the same mistake twice.”
Of the many things we have observed and written about regarding Maye, his ability to learn from week to week- sometimes series to series - and not be an error repeater is near the top of the list. That is rare for someone so young.
“I think before we talk about the physical tools, I think it's the mental man,” Orr said. “They put everything on his dude's plate. I mean, this is a new system for him this year. He has full control, and he has to get them in the right checks in the run game. He has to point out the most dangerous man for the receiver to block. He has to get them in the right protection. Usually, centers handle that with young quarterbacks. He's doing it.
“He's sight adjusting routes. He's checking plays. ...That's what really impressed me with him. I'm like, ‘Man, this, this guy's in his second year, and he has full control of the whole offense.’ He's running the show like nobody's telling him what to do.”
McDaniels confirmed that Maye does, in fact, have that kind of sway at the line of scrimmage (as we’ve observed over the course of the season): “Drake does a