FOXBOROUGH - As we get closer to the end of the week, I want to hit on several topics today. If you’re tired of the quarterback discussion, I’ll try to keep it brief(er) than I’ve been. But on a normal week, Thursdays are when we get 10 or 15 minutes with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and I’d be a fool not to keep asking about Drake Maye’s play.
One word Mike Vrabel used in describing what he wants from Maye on Wednesday was “decisive.” Heck, I put it in quotes in the headline of that story. He really hammered that home. So I wondered if McDaniels had seen any improvement on that front from week one to week two?
“Sure. You know, I mean, a mistake is a mistake, but there were a lot of good plays,” McDaniels said, “and I'd say, too, for us offensively, it's always about the group. It's always about the group. It's always about the group.”
As the longtime coach repeated those words, he firmly hit the table with both hands. Not once. Not twice. But three times. As much as Vrabel has publicly chided Maye the last two weeks, McDaniels wanted to remind us that there’s much more to digest when watching a play, series, or game than just putting it all on the quarterback.
“It takes 11 people on offense to make a good play go. That's what it takes,” he insisted. “It always has required that. So he has to do his part. We have to do our part around him. We have to do a good job as coaches of putting our group in the right position. But every good play is the sum of a lot of guys doing something well and that's the burden we bear playing offense. We can't get away with 9, 8, 9, guys doing their job the right way, and two or three of them not. It doesn't really work that way.
“Drake made some really good plays the other day, and I certainly want to try to clean up some of the things that are - putting the ball in harm's way is obviously something we want to try to do away with.”
Part of the burden on McDaniels right now is guiding Maye through this difficult stretch to get him out on the other side, hopefully more knowledgeable and equipped to handle the way defenses are scheming against him and this offense.
The Jaguars may not be in the same defensive class as, say, the Seahawks, but I view it as a coin flip between them and the Steelers (though not stylistically). Their defensive coordinator, Anthony Campanile, has a unique background, having worked under both Brian Flores (chaos) and Vic Fangio. He has tried to