Drake Maye is hoping his New England Patriots teammates feel the sting of their 34-15 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
The Patriots quarterback shared the message he delivered to his teammates during Sunday’s game, which they trailed by as many as 31 points at point, as they fell to 3-9 on the season.
“Yeah it’s tough,” Maye told reporters of the Patriots’ tough season. “I think like I’ve always said, I hate losing more than I really like to win. Losing sucks. I told some of the guys on the sideline, ‘Just remember this feeling. Remember this feeling of really getting our butts whipped today.’ I think it’s only up from here. We’ve got a bright future and a lot of bright players in there that can make some plays for the Patriots.”
Maye is major part of the Patriots’ future. The third-overall pick has delivered several promising moments through his first seven starts, adding another memorable play to his highlight reel on Sunday. Facing a fourth-and-15 in the fourth quarter, Maye scrambled around in the pocket before buying enough time to connect with tight end Austin Hooper for a 38-yard touchdown.
There were some other memorable plays Maye made under duress throughout Sunday’s game. As the Patriots’ offensive line struggled again, he used his legs to buy time on several plays, rushing for 26 yards on nine scrambles.
What Drake Maye said of his two turnovers in Patriots’ loss
While Maye had some highlight plays on Sunday, he also committed a pair of head-scratching turnovers. When facing pressure on a third-and-three from midfield in the middle of the third quarter, Maye tried to keep the play alive as Dolphins defensive lineman Zach Sieler was chasing him down. But Maye held the ball up in the air as he tried to break out of a tackle, allowing Sieler to knock it out of his hand and giving the Dolphins the ball deep in Patriots territory.
Maye took accountability for that fumble after the game.
“The fumble, just find a way to protect football and go down or find a way to get it out,” Maye said. “I think I spun out of it and kind of reversed out it, and maybe could have you know, escaped it. But even that, just can’t kind of can’t swim move the guy with the football. Just bad, protect the football like we preached all week and I didn’t do that out there.”
Maye’s other turnover came in the fourth quarter when the Patriots had a brief window to make a comeback. Trailing 31-15, Maye threw a ball up in the air when he was pressured on a second-and-10 play from the Dolphins’ 46-yard line. The sky ball went right to Dolphins linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who was standing at the line of scrimmage.
The interception ended the Patriots’ comeback hopes, but Maye didn’t seem to fret too much over the error.
“The interception, just trying to make trying to check it down and it happened to get tipped,” Maye said. “So no, I’m not too worried about that.”
With the two turnovers in Sunday’s game, Maye now has eight turnovers on the season. He’ll hope to clean up those turnovers when the Patriots host the Indianapolis Colts in Week 13.
