Patriots Offensive Coordinator Changes Tune About Drake Maye Strategy

The Patriots hesitated to design plays for Drake Maye to run all over the field, but that might change in the final weeks of the season.

Maye’s ability to scramble helped keep New England in matchups and extend drives for New England’s inept offense. The 22-year-old utilized the zone read at North Carolina, but head coach Jerod Mayo seemed content with the rookie as a pocket passer who occasionally scrambles.

The Patriots still rank in the bottom five in expected offensive points added per play, so it wouldn’t hurt to utilize Maye as a runner to help out the offense even further. The offensive coordinator didn’t seem to disagree with the idea with one exception.

“Protection, that’s the biggest thing is just to keep him healthy for the rest of the season; let him play the rest of the season out,” Van Pelt told reporters, per a team-provided video. “Can he run the ball as a quarterback in designed runs? Absolutely. Will we use him? Yeah, absolutely. We had him in last week when the situation arises. I’m not gonna ask him to do it on first-and-10 in the middle of the drive. But when there’s a situation where it’s a high-leverage situation where we can use his legs to our advantage — the offense’s advantage — we certainly will. He does run enough. He’s taken hits in the pocket as a passer so just trying to keep him as healthy as possible. But again, if the time comes and we need a play and we think it’s the best play to give him the ball, then we’ll do that.”

Van Pelt also noted that the turnovers need to be cut out of Maye’s game. While his progression impressed the coaching staff, they aren’t too keen on seeing the number of turnovers in the young signal-caller’s game. The supporting cast certainly isn’t helping matters, but Wednesday was the first time Van Pelt expressed the thought of adding more designed runs for Maye.

This Sunday would be an interesting time to throw that in the game plan as the Patriots prepare to take on dual-threat quarterback Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts.