New England Patriots
“It’s just cool to see a guy of that caliber at that position doing the dirty work things that we all do,” center Garrett Bradbury said.
FOXBOROUGH — Drake Maye scored a pair of rushing touchdowns during Sunday’s loss to the Bills, but the play where he really showcased just how fast he can move happened on a toss right to TreVeyon Henderson in the fourth quarter.
The 6-foot-4-inch, 225-pound quarterback saw the rookie running back reverse course, bouncing away from his blockers and sprinting down the left side of the field with room to run.
Maye took off ahead of Henderson and helped free the speedy back with a downfield block dozens of yards from where the play began, which ended in a 65-yard touchdown scamper.
According to Next Gen Stats, Maye hit a top-speed of 20.58 miles per hour, the fastest mark of his career. Henderson’s top speed on the play was 21.25 m.p.h.
Getting a ball carrier with that kind of speed out in space can lead to good things.
“He’s tough to tackle. He’s got good vision,” Maye said. “He’s fast. He can make one cut and he’s gone. He probably would have outran them even if I wasn’t down there. So, he’s a great player for us and we’ve got to continue to make more plays to come up with the W.”
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel appreciated Maye’s effort. It showed his athleticism and willingness to help his teammates, the coach said.
“I think it’s great. I think it’s great that he can run, first off,” Vrabel said. “Drake wants to do anything that he can to help this football team. High-screened a guy — I don’t think he needs to trip and fall. I don’t think that was necessary. But I think he wants to do anything that he can do to help us win. That was good to see.”
Patriots center Garrett Bradbury said he didn’t have any blocking tips for Maye, who took a tumble at the end of the play after running in front of Buffalo’s Tre’Davious White.
“We’ll just let him do what he does. It’s just cool to see a guy of that caliber at that position doing the dirty work things that we all do,” said Bradbury.
Maye’s combination of competitiveness and athletic ability were on display during the hustle play.
“He’s just a competitor,” running back Rhamondre Stevenson said. “That speaks to who he is.”
Big expectations
Sunday was a quiet day for defensive tackle Christian Barmore, who posted just one tackle and one quarterback hit. He had no sacks and no tackles for loss on Sunday.
Barmore has one sack this season through 14 games. He has played in every game this season, but his production has taken a noticeable dip.
With Milton Williams out, the Patriots need more out of Barmore, Vrabel said.
“We expect that in this league — we’ve said this — that your best players have to play good for you to win,” Vrabel said. “We consider him one of our better players, just like our quarterback. We expect the quarterback’s going to have to play good for us to win.
“Whoever we consider to be our best players, they have to play good in this league. That’s what this thing comes down to.”
Rough decision
Vrabel was not pleased with the unnecessary roughness penalty that Stevenson picked up with 3:41 left in the third quarter.
Stevenson and Buffalo’s Matt Milano were both given offsetting penalties for their role in a brief dustup near the sideline. Milano hit Stevenson, stood him up, and continued to make contact after the play. One of Stevenson’s hands struck Milano in the face mask.
“That’s a bad decision. That’s what I told them in the moment. That’s what I’ll tell them again at 12:30,” Vrabel said. “There’s nothing else. It’s what it is. He made a good play, good positive play. I don’t think they did anything wrong. He hit them at the sideline, stood there, and we made a bad decision.”
Stevenson echoed Vrabel’s sentiments at the podium, saying that it was a “dumb decision” and mentioning how fortunate he was that Milano’s penalty kept his mistake from having a bigger impact.
“I was lucky that it offset because that could have been a big part of the game,” Stevenson said. “I’ve just got to be disciplined and not do things like that.”
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