The future is here for the New England Patriots. So how are they feeling about it?
On the scoreboard, the results weren’t good. But even with a 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans, Patriots players and coaches had positive things to say about Drake Maye in his first NFL start.
Here’s what players in the Patriots locker room and at the podium had to say about Maye’s first start after Sunday’s game at Gillette Stadium:
WR Pop Douglas: “He played good. I love how he gained confidence throughout the game and I thought it was a good first game for him. He’s (a good player) and I like the confidence that he had going into his first game. They are a good team and he held his own. We have a young offense, and we are making progress. Our first game together as a young offense and I felt like we should be moving forward after this game.”
TE Hunter Henry: “I commend his toughness, first and foremost. His competitiveness was great. It was fun to get some things going, moving in a positive direction. I felt like the two-minute before the half was a great moment for us, too, as an offense. We’ve just got to be better with the football, we’ve got to be better – we weren’t able to establish the run like we wanted to today, and we’ve just got to be better in a lot of areas. It starts with myself. I need to be better and be better for this football team.”
Head coach Jerod Mayo: “I thought he showed a lot of poise. I thought he went out there and controlled the huddle, got those guys out of the huddle and once again, made some plays. It’s definitely encouraging. From a team-wide perspective right now, we let him down. It was his first game, and I feel like I let him down. I’m sure all the coaches feel like we let everyone down. We’ve just got to be better.”
RB Antonio Gibson: “Excited for him. You know, he came out here, he competed. Not what we wanted, but he did his thing. He showed heart. He took the steps he needed to do to prepare for today. We just have to keep building off of that.”
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WR Kendrick Bourne: “I think he did phenomenal. I pointed out that him getting hit, he kept playing, he didn’t seem too rattled. He didn’t just start doing different things, he stuck to what he does, what he practices. I think he understands that he’s going to get hit and I think that is huge. Obviously, we’re struggling on the line as everybody knows, in a sense, but he’s doing a good job playing hard.”
C Ben Brown: “I thought he did great. I thought he was confident out there. I felt like he settled in great. I felt very confident having him as my quarterback back there today.”
WR Kayshon Boutte (on his chemistry with Maye): “When Drake first came in – I was once a rookie – it’s all about getting comfortable, finding your confidence and your rhythm. From the time he got in, going in and out every day, just letting him know it’ll be alright, that we all can improve to get better.”
CB Jonathan Jones: “I think we didn’t put him in a good position, you know, as a defense, spotting them 14 points. So, it’s kind of hard to fight back from that. So, from that standpoint, you know, it’s hard.”
