Tom Brady likes what he’s seeing from Drake Maye, and he didn’t hide it after the New England Patriots rolled past the Las Vegas Raiders 45-17.
Brady, who watched his former team from afar while also serving as a Fox Sports analyst and a minority owner of the Raiders, dropped the Patriots into his weekly top 10 power rankings at No. 7 on Fox Sports’ YouTube channel after the Week 5 win. That ranking came on the heels of a performance from Maye that looked every bit like a quarterback taking control: 26 completions on 34 attempts, 374 passing yards, four touchdown passes, no interceptions, one sack, and a rushing touchdown.
The win pushed New England to 3-2, putting the Patriots just behind Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in the division race. And for Brady, the surge looked familiar.
"A tale as old as time in New England, I've heard it before. I was there when it happened. The sky's falling in September and the Pats are dead in the water, until they aren't," he said of the team's situation.
He then singled out Maye’s response after a rocky opening stretch.
"Drake, you've responded so great. There was a first real slump early in the season, but he's throwing the ball with confidence now again, and the whole team is feeding off of it," Brady said, adding, "Relax, everyone. This is a [expletive] good football team."
That confidence didn’t appear overnight. The Patriots opened with a 13-10 loss in a Super Bowl rematch against the Seattle Seahawks, with backup quarterback Drew Lock beating them. They answered with a 20-3 win over Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, then got punched back in a 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
At that point, plenty of questions were hanging over New England, especially about whether the team could actually handle the league’s top competition. The Patriots answered with a 27-23 win over the Buffalo Bills, then backed it up by flattening the Raiders.
Brady also pointed to the way quarterbacks and receivers develop trust as the season moves along. He said that "quarterback to receiver reps in the game build a lot of trust," and "when you mess up, you learn from it, you move on, and you try not to make the same mistake again."
Through five games, Maye has thrown for 1,228 yards and eight touchdowns while also tossing seven interceptions. His 74.9 QBR ranks seventh in the NFL. He’s been doing it without one of the Patriots’ major offseason additions, AJ Brown.
There was encouraging news on Wednesday, though, as Brown returned to practice as a limited participant. He looks on track to come back soon, possibly for the Patriots’ Week 6 matchup against the New York Jets, after missing more than four weeks with an ankle injury.
In Other News...
Raiders Face A Big Fernando Mendoza Question At Wide Receiver
The Raiders have a quarterback picture that already invites questions, with Kirk Cousins in the starting role and rookie Fernando Mendoza viewed as the long-term answer. Even with that transition in mind, the bigger issue around the offense may be the lack of proven wide receiver help, a problem that has left the front office and observers looking for ways to add a legitimate target to the passing game.
One name that has surfaced in the conversation is a receiver who appears to have slipped in Jacksonville, which is exactly the kind of situation that can spark trade speculation this time of year. For Las Vegas, the appeal is obvious: if the Raiders want to make life easier for Cousins now and for Mendoza down the road, they may need to keep pushing on the market for a receiver who can change the shape of the room, even if the cost and fit remain unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Offensive Struggles Are Fueling A Quarterback Debate
The Raiders offensive problems have started to reach beyond the usual blame game, with the passing attack and ground game both undercutting any sense of rhythm. Kirk Cousins has had a hard time settling in when defenses turn up the pressure, and the recent stretch has only sharpened the conversation around how the team should handle the quarterback position as it moves forward.
Against that backdrop, Brock Purdy has begun to emerge as a name worth watching for a bigger role if the Raiders decide to change course in the weeks ahead. No official decision has been made, and the team still has time to sort through its options, but the broader issue is clear: the offense has not given the staff much reason to stand pat. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Could Catch Buffalo At The Perfect Time In Week 6
The Bills entered Week 6 with a long injury report, and the Raiders are looking at a matchup that could hinge on who is actually able to suit up. Buffalo listed 15 players, while Las Vegas had 12 of its own, setting up a meeting where health may matter almost as much as form. For a Raiders team trying to find an edge on the road, that is the kind of week that can quietly reshape the game plan before the teams ever kick off.
Wednesday practice only sharpened the uncertainty in Buffalo. DJ Moore and Ed Oliver were the only Bills players who did not participate, and both were already unavailable in the previous game, leaving their status something to monitor closely as the week unfolds. Las Vegas has its own questions, with Tonka Hemingway and Jalen Nailor in concussion protocol and their availability still up in the air, so this one may end up being decided as much by the injury report as by anything that happens on the field. [Read more 🡒]