Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Michael Kadlick

Patriots' Drake Maye Has New Musical Approach to Throwing Ball Away

Maye turned the ball over once against the Bears on Sunday. | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Quarterback Drake Maye has impressed over his first five starts with the New England Patriots. Not only has the team won two out of their last three games, but the rookie has thrown seven touchdowns, ran for one more, and is completing 64.7% of his passes.

On Sunday during the Patriots' 19-3 win against the Chicago Bears, however, he threw an ugly interception. After trying to find tight end Austin Hooper along the sideline, he pump-faked and tried to throw the ball away. The Duke instead found the chest of Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards.

Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt spoke highly of Maye's recent performances for the Patriots on Thursday afternoon, but noted that the turnover is a play that "will haunt him for the rest of the season."

"That was easy as it gets to throw it away over the head of the tight end there and (he) just short-armed it a little bit and got stuck," explained Van Pelt. "We always say if nobody's open, there's one guy that's always open and that's the tuba player in Row 4. I'd like to see him put that ball right in the tuba."

The offensive coordinator was, of course, jokingly referring to the band section seen at many high school and college football games.

Despite Maye's turnovers (five interceptions, one fumble lost), New England's offense has looked far better than with Jacoby Brissett under center. Since handing the reigns over to the rookie, the Patriots are scoring over seven more points per game and averaging over 40 more yards per game since Week 6.


More of the Latest Around the NFL


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patriots' Drake Maye Has New Musical Approach to Throwing Ball Away.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.