Drake Maye lacked consistent, hands-on coaching from Jerod Mayo and Alex Van Pelt during his rookie season. Jason McCourty noted that Van Pelt rarely provided helmet coaching last year. In Maye's second preseason, Josh McDaniels has taken a far more active role, frequently sending in coaching notes and making in-helmet adjustments. A clear example occurred when Maye and McDaniels changed a 3rd-and-10 call after recognizing deep safeties, resulting in an 11-yard TreVeyon Henderson run and New England's touchdown. McDaniels' emphasis on physicality and play-action, combined with an improved offensive line, has produced cleaner pockets and early signs of growth.
An offensive coordinator's style of coaching is a subtle factor in a quarterback's growth that often goes unnoticed. And quality coaching is something that Drake Maye did not have in his rookie year with the Patriots, from Jerod Mayo or Alex Van Pelt. During Saturday's preseason win over the Minnesota Vikings, TV analyst and former Patriots' cornerback Jason McCourty revealed that Van Pelt was hardly giving Maye any coaching in his helmet last year.
Two preseason games into Maye's sophomore campaign, the tides have turned under Josh McDaniels, who is a lot more hands-on and is constantly giving Maye nuggets in his helmet. A big example of that came on New England's first touchdown drive in its win over the Vikings, in which Maye clearly changed the play on a 3rd and 10 after he and McDaniels noticed Minnesota's safeties were deep, and the result was an 11-yard run from TreVeyon Henderson.
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