It honestly could have been a Hallmark card. The only thing missing was matching pajamas.
On a snowy Christmas eve morning down at Gillette Stadium Tuesday, Drake Maye and Hunter Henry took to the podium together, looking like brothers as Maye grinned ear-to-ear. Usually, the two take care of their weekly media obligations separately, but Maye sidled up to his veteran tight end this time.
Henry said they had decided they would do it jointly before he opened with a message of hope to Patriots fans.
“Merry Christmas to all you guys, and Merry Christmas to all of the Pats Nation. We appreciate all you guys, really. I know it’s been a hard year,” he said. “It’s been hard on us, I know it’s been hard on y’all. We just wanted you to know that we appreciate you guys.”
Sunday’s performance did provide some glimmers of hope that the team is finally starting to turn the corner after a handful of ugly years post Tom Brady. There obviously needs to be some consistency shown the last two weeks relative to not getting blown out on your home field, but over the last seven days, Drake Maye – which he’d done already – truly cemented himself as a leader going forward and it feels like the offense is taking steps forward, despite obvious deficiencies up front and at receiver.
Maye spoke about that growth and in particular, how the staff and another veteran are helping him navigate this first season.
“Yeah, for sure. I think it’s been huge. I think Coach Mayo’s helped. I think AVP [Alex Van Pelt], T.C. [McCartney], even Jacoby throughout the game. Jacoby’s the best, during the game, ‘Hey, I’m thinking no sacks,’ or ‘hey, protect the football,’ things like that. Jacoby’s been awesome,” Maye said. “I think it’s something for me, each and every week, just to remember that experience and go on to the next week and store that in my memory bank and realize, ‘Hey, this is a time where sacks are no good,’ or, ‘Hey, second and long, just a check down may be good or second and short, get the first down,’ little things like that have been huge. At the same time, not to be too conservative.
“I think at times that we’ve got a lot of guys like Hunter who can go down the field and make plays for us, so still being able to challenge the ball down the field and make big explosive plays. I think that’s when we are at our best, when we can run the football, throw it to these guys, let them make yards after catch, and hit them deep. There’s a lot of different things where I think we can be good in this offense and I think you are seeing that.”
Maye also acknowledged he’s not looking to suddenly play scared either, which is another good sign for fans desperate to see winning football again.
“I don’t think it’s really that I’m scrambling outside the pocket and heaving one up. I think it’s within the offense,” he added. “I think some unfortunate things have happened with the turnovers, and I think some of them definitely fall on me. I think there’s definitely a way we need to cut down turnovers. That starts with me protecting the football and throwing it incomplete or throwing it in the dirt or little things like that.
“I’m still going to be aggressive. That’s the way I play and I think it’s in the long run going to be good for us.”
So, while fans won’t be giving any playoff tickets out as Christmas gifts again this year, it appears there should and will be plenty of Maye jerseys under the tree on Wednesday morning. The Pats have their guy. However you feel about the staff, this all ultimately falls on the shoulders of Maye. The Patriots will eventually be relevant again because of his success, not the head coach’s.
Maye believes in himself and the locker room believes in Maye. Now, the rest of the organization must do whatever it can this offseason to make sure there’s playoff tickets in stockings on this night a year from now.