2 hours Ago By Bernd Buchmasser
The New England Patriots will be in their personal house of horrors on Sunday, taking on the Miami Dolphins on the road. The team’s struggles in South Beach through the years have been well-documented, and it remains to be seen what type of chapter will added to the story in Week 12. Naturally, most of our focus this week has been on that game.
For other stories that emerged over the last few days, let’s clean out the notebook. Welcome to the latest edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes . When he joined the Patriots as the third overall selection in this year’s NFL Draft, Drake Maye brought an enticing skillset to the table.
Combining arm strength, baseline athleticism and a natural feel for the pocket, he was and remains the high-upside quarterback option the team has not had in previous years. Despite his rare talents and high ceiling, and the promise he has shown since becoming the Patriots’ starter in Week 6, Maye is still a rookie. As such, he still has significant room for growth across the board and continues to evolve as a player and locker room leader.
On Friday, his position coach highlighted one particular area of growth: confidence. “He’s always been a confident guy,” T.C.
McCartney said when asked about the young passer’s biggest growth since Week 6. “But until you’re doing it — until you’re the guy, until you’re the man, you’re the starter — you kind of take a backseat. These last six weeks, he’s really stepped forward and been the leader, and the guy we need on offense.
” Maye’s confidence shines through in various aspects of his on-field performance. Whether it is attempting difficult passes, staying in the pocket with pressure in his face, or simply taking what the defense is offering, the 22-year-old has been decisive in his decision making even when not every one of those decisions turned out to be the correct one. However, Maye’s willingness to learn has allowed him to better the process on a daily basis.
“I’m just trying to build on every day,” he said. “I think I’ve come a long way within the system, learning the system, knowing what to do, knowing where guys line up, getting in and out of run checks and pass things. I wouldn’t say better, I’d just say more comfortable.
” This increased level of comfort also ties into his confidence — something opposing defensive coordinators can also witness when watching tape on Maye. “He doesn’t lack confidence,” Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver said this week. “He trusts his ability.
He trusts his arm. And the thing with all these new crops of young quarterbacks is when plays break down, they have the ability to create extended plays and run both outside of the pocket and down the field and the run to throw it, too. We’ve got to be cognizant of that.
” Last week versus the Los Angeles Rams , Maye’s increased confidence and trust in the system and his role within it resulted in a comparatively conservative attack; he primarily targeted the short and intermediate areas of the field even with the team trailing for much of the day. His ability to execute the plan at a high level, however, put the Patriots in a position to win late. Drake Maye's been one of the more accurate and cerebral short passers in the league after he galloped over the league in his first few weeks pic.
twitter.com/5sz2S0y23T In addition to his actual play, McCartney is also seeing Maye’s confidence reflect on his demeanor in the huddle. “We’ve been talking about the huddle and taking command, cadence and all that,” he said.
“Just overall, but each situation’s different. You have to be ready for each situation. Drake’s pretty natural at knowing what gets the guys going.
” Speaking of confidence, Baker, a fourth-round draft pick earlier this year, has had a disappointing rookie season so far. One of its lowest points came agains the Los Angeles Rams last week, when he was benched from his role as kickoff returner after a pair of runbacks. On Friday, Patriots special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer gave some insight into the decision and explained why he is still confident in Baker’s outlook.
“There are certain things back there from a communication standpoint that I can do better throughout the week so that he’s more prepared for certain kicks that you’re getting, with the temperature, with the wind,” Springer said. “Those balls are hard, and he hasn’t had a whole lot of experience back there. “So, in that type of game when the wind was kind of affecting the way that kicker was kicking the balls, I didn’t feel comfortable going on the rest of the game just based on the second kickoff return, how that ended up playing out.
It’s something that we really worked on this week, and he’ll continue to get better. Definitely not giving up on the guy, but in that game and that situation, for a rookie, I didn’t want to put him in a bad situation.” Springer explained that keeping Baker out there and exposing him to issues would have qualified as a coaching mistake — an experience he did not want to make in the first plays.
And while the assistant coach mentioned Baker’s inexperience as a reason for why he was pulled, he also did not rule out a comeback in the near future. “It’s not easy back there. If you have never done it in your career, you can be exposed to some things you don’t want to be expose a young kid to,” he said.
“When the situation calls for it, we’ll have him back there at times. Once we start feeling completely comfortable, we’ll get him more exposure to certain kicks, then he’ll be our guy. It’s just right now I want to expose him as much as I can in practice, so I feel good with him and don’t put him in a bad situation.
I never want to put a kid in a bad situation, because I know how talented he is.” Even though New England ended up losing to the Rams, the game as a whole was a positive step for Alex Van Pelt’s offense. Not only did his crew gain its most yards in a single game this year (382) and score its second most points (22), it also continued to add some wrinkles.
Besides left tackle Vederian Lowe catching a touchdown as a disguised tackle eligible, the team also started incorporating hyper-versatile Marcus Jones on a couple of plays, and kept using motion and misdirection at increased rates. All of that is a sign of the unit’s metamorphosis away from the larva stage it found itself in earlier this season. This development also manifests itself in concrete results.
One of those is the unit’s improved three-and-out rate over the last few weeks. While New England still ranks only 30th in the league from a season-wide perspective, it has improved to 16th over its last four games. Offensive three-and-out rate:For how good Herbert has played, the Chargers' offense has sputtered out far too many times One behind-the-scenes tidbit shared by Alex Van Pelt in his Thursday press conference was Patriots assistant Evan Rothstein suggesting the team run that play versus the Rams.
“It’s a play that’s been around for a while. Evan brought it up in a meeting, said it was the perfect defense to do this,” Van Pelt said. “So, we put it in, practiced it.
” Now in his fourth season with the Patriots, Rothstein joined the Patriots alongside his former boss Matt Patricia from the Detroit Lions in 2021. Wearing several hats both in Detroit and in New England, he currently is listed as assistant quarterbacks coach/director of game management in the Patriots’ media guide. One of the more disappointing developments for the Patriots this season is their pass defense ranking among the least effective units in the NFL through 11 weeks.
There are several factors at play — including a lack of big plays and personnel instability at positions such as safety and outside linebacker — but the gist remains. The unit is not getting the job done on a consistent enough basis, contributing to a decline from 2023 to 2024. Whereas the unit ranked 15th in expected points added per play last year, it now finds itself in the 29th spot.
What stands out when looking further into the ranking is that zone coverage in particular has been a problem this year. NFL Man vs. Zone Weighted EPASorted by how good each defense is in man coverage.
Via @fieldvisionmi.bsky.social -- Using EPA as the metric of choice, the Patriots clearly are a better man than zone coverage defense.
Their 0.024 EPA/play has them ranked as the 16th best man-to-man unit in the NFL. Meanwhile, they are ranked just 29th in the league when playing zone (-0.
064). The Patriots saw starting offensive lineman Cole Strange return from practice this week, and he started off playing a rather unfamiliar role. As pointed out by his position coach, Scott Peters, the former first-round draft pick has been focusing on the center spot rather than his usual position at left guard.
Strange’s versatility is an asset for the team, and something that can prove itself valuable whenever he returns from PUP to the active roster. However, that also means that the job of current starting center Ben Brown is very much in danger. Nonetheless, Peters spoke positively of Brown and his development on Friday.
“Ben didn’t have a ton of in-game playing experience prior to getting here, but he has the physical traits and tools that you want and he’s done a good job of advancing each week; adding new tools to his game,” he said. “It’s been good. When you get here in the middle of the season without having any experience, you’re kind of keyed in on the mental aspect of it — making sure you get the exchange right, ball comes out, and you get the guys in the right plays.
Now it’s getting his game to the next level as far as technique goes.” An undrafted free agent in 2022, Brown started his career in Cincinnati, Seattle and Arizona before joining the Patriots in October via the Las Vegas Raiders ’ practice squad. He arrived in New England with eight offensive snaps and zero starts on his career résumé.
He has since been on the field for 402 snaps in six games as the Patriots’ starting center — a job that now very much appears to be in danger. With 22-year-old Drake Maye leading the way, the Patriots offense has been among the youngest in the NFL so far this season. On a snap-weighted basis, the unit is ranked seventh-youngest with an average of 26.
6 — a number that would be even lower had the 22-year-old Maye started the first five games of the season over the 31-year-old Jacoby Brissett. Snap-weighted age through Week 11Five youngest teams: Packers, Giants, Chargers, Titans, JaguarsFive oldest teams: Dolphins, Vikings, 49ers, Falcons, Browns For the Patriots, whose defense is ranked as the 22nd-youngest unit in the same category (27.3), relying on youth also means accepting mistakes that are brought on by inexperienced.
For Alex Van Pelt, there is a balance to be found between continuing giving players chances and limiting their exposure. “It is a fine line,” he said. “You want to keep those guys out there to continue their development.
Sometimes they need a break, sometimes a game to take a break and kind of re-set and get re-focused; gives those guys a chance. But at this point now, we have to roll. We’re not rookies as much any more.
So, we expect more out of these guys.” After Drake Maye suffered a concussion on a scramble earlier this season, head coach Jerod Mayo spoke about the team taking it slow with incorporating designed quarterback runs into the offense. That stance has since changed, speaking for the coaching staff’s increased confidence in Maye executing run plays and protecting himself in the process.
“Our message to Drake — and we’ve had multiple conversations about this — is to maintain being a quarterback as long as possible, and that’s what we expect,” Mayo said. “Now, in saying that, absolutely there will be game-plan runs at a certain time. We’re still evolving as an offense, and I think Drake is continuing to get better.
So, we’ll put more on his plate.” Safety Jabrill Peppers remains on the commissioner’s exempt list following an arrest in October. It remains to be seen when, and how, he will come off the list but this week brought an update on his immediate future.
Peppers, represented by attorney Marc Brofsky, was due in court Friday for a hearing. There, he learned that a jury trial has been set for January 22. With Peppers’ legal status still in limbo until then, a return from the commissioner’s exempt list before the end of the season seems highly unlikely.
The Patriots will fly back to Providence shortly after their game against the Dolphins, and then stay on the same schedule they established in Week 8; with another 1 p.m. ET game on Sunday coming up, there will be no scheduling surprises in New England this week.
On Monday, Jerod Mayo will meet with the media and for his weekly segment on WEEI; Tuesday will be an off day for players; Wednesday through Friday, the team will practice in preparation for Week 13 even though Thursday’s session might be of a lighter variety due to Thanksgiving; Saturday will see a walkthrough and the announcement of any practice squad elevations; Sunday, the Patriots will host the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium..
