Drake Maye had Devin McCourty at hello.
The Patriots quarterback and former Pro Bowl safety met in person during an NBC production meeting earlier in the season.
McCourty’s first impression?
“I loved the kid,” McCourty said this week on “Eye on Foxborough.”
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The meeting came during the preseason. What stood out, why was McCourty so impressed?
One of questions McCourty and the NBC team posed to Maye was about a poor showing in the joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles back in August.
“We asked him about it in the production meeting,” McCourty said. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, it wasn’t ideal. I got out there, and practice had been going well, then we got to 11-on-11, and it got pretty bad and rough out there for me.’’’
Maye was sacked on practically every drop back during that 11-on-11 session.
Then McCourty asked Maye how he handles that kind of situation when it happens.
“He said, ‘Well I go in there and I watch the film’. And he said, ‘I think about, alright, if this pressure wasn’t there, what would I do? Where would I go with the ball? And then I think about, okay, the pressure’s there, how can I make this play a better play, and not a disaster,’’’ McCourty relayed. “And I’m like, not one time did he talk about anyone else and what they could have done to make the play better … he just talked about what he could do.
“And to me, you see the progress in him, as a player, because of that mentality. He’s always thinking about what he should do, how he should do it.”
During the podcast, McCourty also talked about the importance of surrounding Maye with talent in Year 2. While acknowledging Maye has elevated the current cast, the Patriots shouldn’t want that to be the norm.
“You don’t want next year, having your second-year quarterback having to make everybody you put out there look like a way better player,” he said. “That’s hard to do week in and week out for any young player. You gotta get some things moving in the right direction. When you watch the Patriots on offense, it’s not good.”
