It’s a tough time to be Drake Maye right now.

Not only is the weight of the world (figuratively speaking) on his shoulders being the next franchise quarterback of the Patriots, but his coaches and teammates aren’t really doing him any favors.

Whether it’s the staff messing up ‘the plan’ and the messaging around it, or the off-field issues key players have dealt with, or injuries, or poor play calling, or a lack of talent on the offensive line and in the receiver room. Maye has done and said everything right so far.

His demeanor on Wednesday during the starting quarterback media availability at Gillette Stadium really stood out. No panic. No finger pointing. No woe-is-me being thrown into a brutal situation as a rookie.

The kid wants to win and that’s it. The southern charm and competitiveness that comes with growing up in an athletic family are things that can’t be undersold right now either. He knows the ebbs and flows of team sports, something the previous quarterback simply couldn’t mentally handle during his time wearing the same No. 10.

Maye’s a natural leader and already feels like he can be doing more, even though he really shouldn’t have to this early on in his career.

“I think as a quarterback, I think I need to bring it every day,” he said when asked about a comment Hunter Henry had earlier in the day reading bringing ‘more juice’ on Sundays.

“Every day, that’s my responsibility that comes with playing a position, bringing juice and being the guy that somebody looked to, ‘hey, if Drake’s down,’ that’s the quarterback of the football team, I think it’s every day I need to bring juice. That’s kind of my personality anyway.”

One of the most striking things about Maye is how much confidence he’s trying to instill in his teammates young and old already. Even when they’ve dropped passes or ran a bad route, or gotten him killed with no blocking, he’s usually tapping his chest with the ‘that’s my bad’ signal or immediately getting feedback on the sidelines and encouraging guys on the sideline.

He’s even making sure guys are getting enough targets sometimes, something he’s done since high school.

“Yeah, I think it’s a big deal. At the same time, it’s also something that I keep in mind of getting guys the football,” he said when asked about a report that he would check stats after coming off the field to make sure certain guys were getting enough looks.

“Especially in one-on-one scenarios, we have different guys that make plays. At the same time, right now I’m just trying to do my part in the offense and not try to worry about that as much. I think there’s definitely times in games where I’m going to tell you, ‘hey, if you’re one-on-one next time, I’m coming your way.’ I told KB [Kendrick Bourne] that later in the game that I need to give him some more chances. He’s a good player for us. So, little things like that, I care about. But, the guys want the football and I try to feed them all. That’s the best thing. But at the same time, everybody is going to want the ball more than probably they’re going to get. So you’ve got to balance that aspect.”

Given everything swirling around him, Maye seems to already have this quarterback thing down from a teammate standpoint and making progress seemingly daily on the field too.

Now, he just needs the rest of the organization to follow his lead.

“I’m feeling more comfortable back there, more comfortable in the huddle, play calls and little things like that, little things that you don’t see on the field,” he added.