New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye missed over half of Sunday's 25-22 upset win over the New York Jets after a hit at the end of a scramble late in the game's first quarter resulted in the rookie entering the NFL's concussion protocol.
During a Monday appearance on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show," first-year Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo offered somewhat of a warning for Maye coming off the 22-year-old's first noteworthy injury scare of his young career.
"This goes back to 'darned if you do, darned if you don't,'" Mayo said about Maye making plays with his legs, per Mike Reiss of ESPN. "The quarterback is the most important position on the field. He has to protect himself a little better."
New England's offense repeatedly failed its defense as the club fell to 1-4 with veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett playing instead of Maye. Mayo then turned to Maye for the Week 6 game against the Houston Texans, perhaps in part to avoid a locker-room "mutiny" from arising, and the third overall pick of this year's draft flashed promise across his first two starts despite them resulting in losses.
Against the Jets, Brissett helped New England finish two fourth-quarter scoring drives en route to the Patriots earning a needed victory that improved them to 2-6 on the season. Mayo added on Monday he's "not sure" if Maye will clear the concussion protocol to play at the 1-6 Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Those running the Patriots understand the win against the Jets only means so much, as New England is clearly looking to sell talent for draft assets ahead of the Nov. 5 trade deadline. Thus, logic suggests Mayo and Co. should want to protect Maye and keep him sidelined through the Tennessee contest so he can be fully healthy for the matchup at the Chicago Bears (4-3) on Nov. 10.
In total, Maye has gained 114 yards with a touchdown on 13 rushing attempts this season. Such stats show how he can extend plays and drives with his scrambling abilities, but Sunday's events showed he'll need to work on avoiding the types of hits that can sideline any signal-caller once he's able to return to the lineup.
