The New England Patriots are in the midst of a transition period.
New England has both a first-year head coach, who has had his share of growing pains, as well as a rookie starting quarterback, and at times this year, both have been evident. The Patriots fell to 2-7 after a late interception sealed the loss in Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
Still, the Pats were put into position to win the game after rookie quarterback Drake Maye extended the play with his legs on the last play of regulation and managed to pull off a miraculous touchdown throw. Still, the young quarterback wasn’t thrilled about the play in light of his game-losing interception.
“We ended up coming short, so that play really doesn’t matter at this point,” Maye said after the game, via ESPN.
“We were throwing into the wind and I have to put more on it. Just a dumb decision. Something you’d like to have back. Especially in that situation — we could at least tie it up. Sometimes the best play is to throw it away.
First-year head coach Jerod Mayo had his young quarterback’s back after the game.
“He’s a guy out there trying to make a play. I think sometimes as well as he has played, we forget how young he is,” Mayo said. “He’s going to continue to develop, and he’ll be a good quarterback in this league. We’ll all learn from this, myself included.”
Maye has had rough points this season, but the talent that led the Patriots to select him in the first round of the NFL draft has flashed just as much.
