The New England Patriots' offense is still a work in progress, so to speak. Josh McDaniels' unit hasn't found much success in the red zone, scoring just 12.0 points per game, the second-worst mark in the league.
Plenty of that has been on Drake Maye, who has just one touchdown against six interceptions and has completed roughly 63.8 percent of his passes after leading the league in that regard last season. He hasn't been the same player.
While it's too early to worry, some are already sounding the alarm on the Patriots' signal-caller. As it turns out, Brian Hoyer may have been right when he claimed Maye should've played in the preseason.
Brian Hoyer explains reason behind Drake Maye's early-season struggles
"(Maye) is a young player. He probably should have played in the preseason," Hoyer told WEEI.
The good part is that if this is just a matter of shaking off the rust, Maye should be back to his old self in no time. He's already gotten three full games to get his legs back under him, so he should find his groove pretty soon.
Mike Vrabel expressed concerns about his team's lack of depth, and maybe he didn't want to play him behind a makeshift offensive line full of backups. That makes sense, but he's still a work in progress, even after an MVP-caliber season.
On the other hand, three full games are a ton, and he just doesn't look right. He's talking about his shoulder, but in reality, he's just missing wide-open throws and layups. He's trying to do too much too often, making the type of mistakes he rarely committed as a rookie.
Maybe the Patriots should've thrown him out there, at least for a bit. He played a ton of football last season, but it was his second year in the league and his first as a full-time starter, so he hasn't seen all types of coverage. Also, the league now has a full season's worth of his tape, and they can adjust accordingly.
Whatever the case, the fact of the matter is that he's not playing up to the high standard he's already set, and it's concerning. This isn't entirely on him, though, because the offensive coordinator isn't doing a great job: he's getting him going with scripted touches and easy completions, and the receivers aren't creating much separation.
That said, it's not the end of the world, and the sky is not falling. It's been three weeks, and there's still plenty of football left to play. Maye is a mentally strong and highly gifted young man who's clearly much better than this, and he should get back on track in no time.
Hopefully, these three subpar performances were his preseason, and he'll be back to wheeling and dealing when the Patriots travel to Buffalo to take down the Bills.
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