The second-year quarterback will have more on his plate under the Patriots’ new offensive coordinator.
Following the end of the 2025 season, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye took some time to decompress. Then it was quickly back to work.
“You got to learn a new system,” Maye told reporters on Thursday. “You have to take a break… once the Super Bowl ended you’re kind of back into ‘Hey, I got to be on my stuff’ so when we get here at least I sound like I know what I’m talking about with the offense.”
That new offense will be led by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who Maye has enjoyed working with so far through the early phases of the Patriots voluntary offseason workout program — where the 22-year-old has held a steady presence.
One of the biggest differences for Maye working with McDaniels is coming at the line of scrimmage. As traditional West Coast offenses put the majority of pre-snap responsibilities on the center, Maye was not primarily responsible for checks and protections prior to the snap during his rookie season under previous offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
McDaniels’ offense instead puts the quarterback in charge, which will translate the pre-snap check list onto Maye’s plate headed into Year 2.
“I think you want. I hold the pin last, that’s what they say and I think that’s what you want because I got the best view back there,” Maye said. “You’re the one that you has to know where everybody’s at now, really what everybody’s doing or some point maybe the techniques up front.
“Got a good idea of what they’re supposed to do. I think it’s great for me to hold the pin last, like I said and … I think it’s great for me to take that next step and taking command of sending the guys up front where to go and who to block. So, I’m looking forward to it.”
The expected new language from Van Pelt’s West Coast-style offense last year to McDaniels has also been one of the biggest adjustments early in the process.
“Just translating the language. I think a lot of the NFL is the same type of concept or same run game just how they call it, how the verbiage [changes],” Maye said. “Get rid of the what we called it last year in install, especially teaching these other guys. We try to stay ahead as a quarterback so just teaching them the right verbiage and not try to revert back to [the past lingo].”
While there is plenty of change, McDaniels has kept some things in the playbook similar for Maye to help with the transition. The veteran coordinator is also making sure the 2024 first-round draft pick has input throughout the process, and is constructing his offense with the dual-threat quarterback in mind.
Learning the system has therefore included going back to watch old Patriots film of both Tom Brady and Cam Newton.
“Coach has been great with asking about stuff I like from last year that we ran. Stuff that I like that they do that I’ve seen on film. I think it’ll be good for us cause we’ll be able to do a lot,” Maye explained.
“It’ll be challenging to find out exactly what is going to be kind of our stuff and I think that’s the fun part of it. That’s kind of the chess match against defense coordinators that you want to find. But coach is great about finding matchups and kind of exploiting defenses.”