The New England Patriots were never able to find an offensive rhythm without starting quarterback Drake Maye on Sunday.
After Maye led the Patriots on an 11-play, 60-yard opening drive that ended in a field goal, he was ruled out for the remainder of the game with an ankle injury. With Tommy DeVito taking over under center, the Patriots managed just one more scoring drive the rest of the way while going three-and-out on seven possessions.
“Not good enough are the words I would say,” DeVito said post
game. “Offensively, just never really got going; never really was able to get into a rhythm, really get drives going. Too many three and outs and just hurting ourselves. Even the one drive that we had that resulted in a touchdown took 16 plays and there were still errors on that that happened.
“We just need to be better at that and just sustaining drives.”
DeVito finished the game 12-of-24 for 81 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He appeared to have multiple receivers open before forcing the pick over the middle of the field to Mack Hollins.
There were other instances in which DeVito appeared to miss open receivers, while he also led his pass catchers into big collisions on multiple occasions.
The offense as a whole finished with just 151 yards on 55 plays, averaging 2.7 yards per play while converting just four of 13 third downs. Head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about his level of concern with the unit’s performance.
“I mean, again, we have a lot of — it’s not. I don’t think Drake’s being in there or not would have really — I mean it may have. I would highly doubt it,” Vrabel began. “Until we start doing the little things better in all three phases, the fundamentals, being able to run the football, being able to get open and catch and protect our quarterback, tackle, get off the field on third down, create turnovers, obviously we have to start turning it over offensively and then special teams, got to be able to create a spark for us and create some momentum plays.”
Vrabel did not have an update on Maye’s status following the game. The quarterback is expected to undergo additional testing on his ankle when the team returns to Foxborough.
A much-needed bye week will give the Patriots an opportunity to reset and refocus before preparing for a challenging final seven games of the season. Whether they will have Maye available for that stretch remains to be seen.
In the meantime, DeVito will continue preparing as he has throughout the season.
“I’m going to continue the process I have been doing up to this point. Something that as a two, as cliche as it sounds, you have to be prepared to be a starter,” DeVito said. “So just keep doing what I’m doing, keep my head down, and then if something like that were to happen, you would have the reps and practice and the walkthroughs and everything going forward, so just keep on preparing and on to the next.”
