New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for October.
The award comes after Maye led the Patriots to a 3-1 record, completing 67.2% of his passes for 1,199 yards, 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He also added 129 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Maye became the first Patriot to earn the honor since Tom Brady during the 2017 season.
“That’s something to be proud of for Drake,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. “I always
look at those things as team achievements. Certainly nobody’s going to win an individual award in football without all the guys that do their jobs around him. I think you celebrate that as a group.
“He’s certainly deserving of it, and a lot of credit to him for just kind of improving as September finished and got into the next month of the season. A lot of little things he did better, and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
It marked a significant turnaround for Maye after the 24-year-old struggled to open the season. The quarterback was perhaps the biggest reason the Patriots found themselves with a 1-2 record through the first three weeks, throwing just one touchdown against six interceptions.
Improved ball security has been one of the biggest factors in Maye’s resurgence. He has thrown just one interception over the last four weeks, while his 1.2% turnover-worthy play rate in October ranked third among qualified quarterbacks.
Additionally, Maye’s trademark deep ball has returned despite the Patriots losing several of their top pass catchers to injuries, while has has operated as one of the league’s better quarterbacks when dealing with pressure.
“He has worked really diligently for two years now on becoming a better passer from the pocket,” McDaniels said. “Everybody talks about how his athleticism is, and it’s great, and he made another great play outside the pocket last week. But I’d say he’d probably be more excited about the one that he slid to the right and climbed up into the pocket, and makes the throw down the field to Kyle [Williams]. So I think he’s worked really hard at it.
“I think it’s repetition and I think it’s confidence in the protections. I think that’s where it stems from.”
Maye’s November started strong as well as he scored three total touchdowns to lead a come from behind win in Miami. The quarterback will look to keep things going against the Green Bay Packers this Sunday.
