For all the good Maye has done, as a quarterback, playmaker and burgeoning team leader, there is one area where he ranks as the worst in the league. Turnovers. Maye leads all starting quarterbacks in Pro Football Focus‘ turnover-worthy play rate, a statistic that captures fumbles recovered by the offense and interceptions dropped by the defense, as well as official takeaways. Maye is risking a turnover on 5.2% of his dropbacks, meaning on more than one out of 20 plays the Patriots could lose possession.
Welcome to the Friday Five!
Each week during the NFL regular season, I will drop five Patriots-related thoughts on Friday to recap the week that was in Foxboro and look ahead to kickoff.
Ready, set, football.1. He didn’t know?!
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt took reporters behind the curtain Thursday, explaining how cornerback/returner Marcus Jones came to play offense last week against the Rams.
More than a week before kickoff, Jones texted Van Pelt offering his services as a ball carrier. Van Pelt then studied film of Jones’ run as a part-time rookie receiver in 2022, and agreed to involve him in the game plan against Los Angeles.
In the same press conference Thursday, Van Pelt made a troubling admission. Until Jones had texted, the Patriots’ offensive coordinator had no idea the 5-foot-8 dynamo had played offense as a rookie.
“That was the first (time) it had come to my attention that he had played offensive plays,” Van Pelt said.
Woof.
Now, it’s understandable Van Pelt, who has spent a lifetime in the NFL as a player and coach did not reach into the archives to study the Picasso playbook that Bill Belichick-Matt Patricia drew up that season. But it’s inexcusable that nine games into the season, an NFL offensive coordinator couldn’t discover one of the team’s best playmakers had once played offense.
How did this never come up during OTAs? Or training camp? Or the preseason? Or any time since Van Pelt was hired in New England?
Jerod Mayo was on that 2022 staff. So were assistant quarterbacks coach Evan Rothstein, wide receivers coach Tyler Hughes and ex-receivers coach and skills development coach Troy Brown.
