FOXBORO, Mass. — Like pretty much everybody else in America, the New England Patriots took Saturday off. And that’s perfectly understandable, considering how hard it must be to play football when you’re playing out the string.
As if by design, then, the Patriots were content with staying out of the way in order that the Los Angeles Chargers could run up a playoff-clinching 40-7 victory at foggy, tons-of-empty-seats Gillette Stadium.
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You know who did show up for the Patriots? You know who chose not to stay out of the way for those playoff-bound Bolts? The answer to both those questions is rookie Drake Maye. And that’s good news on one level, considering Maye was absent for much of the first half after receiving a scary-looking helmet-to-helmet hit from Chargers cornerback Cam Hart on New England’s first possession.
That Maye returned in the third quarter — thank you for your service, Jacoby Brissett — was a wonderful sight to behold for Patriots fans watching from home and the busload of les misérables that bothered to show up at Gillette. Maye represents Tomorrowland for an organization that’s desperately trying to move on from a half-decade of clumsy, disheveled yesterdays, which means his health and fitness are mighty important.
Drake Maye takes another hit to the head after a scramble.
He’s in the medical tent. @abc6 #nevslac #nepats pic.twitter.com/TpaeCAbIuL
— Ian Steele (@RealianSteele6) December 28, 2024
Talk all you want about how the New England roster needs a rebuild, especially in two areas that would help exploit Maye’s talents: offensive line and receiving. And talk all you want about what the future holds for first-year coach Jerod Mayo and his staff, though we’ll pause to note that Pats fans did plenty of talking early in the fourth quarter when they rolled out a droning “Fire Mayo!” chant.
But none of that means anything if the Patriots wind up with a banged-up Maye. So, yes, the good news is that Maye returned to the fray. But here’s the what-on-earth-were-they-
The decision to leave Maye in the game for most of the fourth quarter was a head-scratcher. Mayo’s explanation for doing so was taking your head and banging it against a wall a dozen or so times.
“Again, look, we’re trying to develop a quarterback, and he wants to play,” Mayo said. “He’s a competitor. He went out there.”
Free play Maye 🎯
📺: #LACvsNE on NFL Network
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/hHERooLfo8— NFL (@NFL) December 28, 2024
The bit about Maye being a competitor … sure. He’s all of that. And if Maye has become sufficiently comfortable in his leadership role — pretty impressive for a rookie, right? — that he can lobby to remain on the field, good for him. To a point. But it’s not only a coach’s job to see the big picture, but to also see the Gigantically Big Picture That Will Determine the Fate of the Patriots for the Next Decade. In which case Mayo should say, “No,” and say it with authority.
Besides, what’s this oatmeal about “developing” a quarterback? How much developing is a rookie quarterback going to do in the fourth quarter of a mismatch? The Chargers could have scored 50 points had they kept their game faces on. Instead, after they notched another touchdown on the fifth play of the fourth quarter — 2 yards up the middle by J.K. Dobbins in his first game after being out for a month with a knee injury — the Chargers made a quarterback change. There being no need for Justin Herbert (26-for-38 passing for 281 yards and three touchdowns) to inflict any more damage on closed-for-business New England, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh summoned journeyman Taylor Heinicke for mop-up duty.
That move by Harbaugh might have provided an added dose of inspiration for Mayo to pull down the shade on this settled outcome. It did not. And if his explanation didn’t make a lot of sense, that’s apparently The New Patriot Way. Mayo had made it known before the game that Antonio Gibson would be starting at running back over Rhamondre Stevenson, who has fumbled the ball seven times this season, but then the game began and, hey, look: Stevenson went left tackle for 5 yards on New England’s first possession. Asked about that after the game, Mayo said, “Coach’s decision.”
What he meant to say, one can surmise, is, “I don’t want to talk about it.” But while the ol’ “coach’s decision” end around isn’t very clever or original (the late Jimy Williams practically invented it with his “manager’s decision” responses during the years he skippered the Boston Red Sox), it would have been a wiser response than suggesting that leaving Maye in the game against the Chargers would help the kid, you know, develop.
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“I wanted to be in the game,” Maye said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I wanted to be in the game. I want to be out there with those guys. If our guys are out there, I want to be out there with them. Shoot, may see something that may help us next week out there.”
That attitude, right there, is why Maye could be New England’s quarterback for the next 10 years. But he had already been dinged up once in this game — and on a play in which he tried to muscle his way forward on third-and-4.
Yeah, it’s the NFL. It’s also the second-to-last game of the season for a team that’s going nowhere except back to the drawing board. And Maye being on the field in the fourth quarter doesn’t bring the Patriots any closer to the answers they’re seeking.
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(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
