How Patriots Are Seeing A More Confident Drake Maye Entering Year 2

How Patriots are seeing a more confident Drake Maye entering Year 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

FOXBORO — Things are different for Drake Maye now compared to what was coming his way a year ago at this point.

New head coach. New offensive coordinator. New scheme. New teammates. And instead of being the rookie behind a veteran with extensive starting experience, he’s now a vet with starts of his own under his belt.

At this time last year, within the Patriots organization, it was assumed that Jacoby Brissett would be the team’s No. 1 quarterback to start the season, which created an interesting leadership dynamic behind the scenes with Maye wanting to defer to the elder statesman.

???? Next Pats: Why a STEER WRESTLING rookie could grab a Patriots roster spot | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

Now, it’s clearly Maye’s show. And for those who watched Maye transition from backup to starter as a 22-year-old rookie, they’re seeing a different level of assuredness in the team’s unquestioned signal-caller.

“The confidence is there,” wide receiver Kendrick Bourne told reporters on Tuesday. “Maybe even more confidence. Obviously he’s going to be in a new system so I think he’s in that process. He’s learning. But the confidence is there.

“Drake is a competitor. When we do certain things, his competitive spirit is starting to show more, which I love. Coming out of that shell, you know? He’s going to be a vet.

“I think that’s what he’s embracing. He understands, he’s familiar with what to expect, what to feel. That just creates a better, confident quarterback going into Year 2.”

Bourne described a moment during offseason workouts where he and Maye were pushing weighted sleds alongside one another, and in the moment, Maye was vocal in his intentions of winning that particular competition.

“We were looking at each other, side to side,” Bourne said with a smile. “And we compete, who pushes longer? It was just dope to hear that from him, like, ‘We getting y’all!’

“That competitive spirit, it creates competition. It creates us to be better. We want to beat each other in a race or whatever it is, conditioning and things like that. He just competes. You love to see that from your quarterback.”