For a guy whose offense has produced two touchdowns in two games, New England Patriots coordinator Josh McDaniels did his best to assuage the fears of fans everywhere on Thursday.
He might as well have been speaking directly to his quarterback, Drake Maye, as well.
“It’s about the group. It’s always about the group. It takes 11 people on offense to make a good play go. That’s what it takes. It always has required that,” said McDaniels as the team prepares for Week 3, Sunday in Jacksonville. “The first month of the season is about growth and improvement. Progress is a big word. And if you jerk the wheel and turn the car into a wall, you’re going to have a problem.”
Slower start than in 2025
A year ago, in his return to New England after a second failed stint as a head coach, McDaniels and Maye got off to a solid start. Maye completed 71 percent of his passes with three TDs and an interception, good for a 100.9 passer rating.
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All those numbers are down this year – except for his four interceptions. He is hitting on 67 percent of his passes with just one TD and a 63.1 rating.
No time to change plans
McDaniels isn’t about to hit the panic button, at least not publicly.
“I think it’s normal. This time of the year is generally an extension of the work you’ve done in training camp,” he said. “Whether it’s one aspect of the game in terms of situational play, or last year I thought we made progress in the running game as we got along …
“There’s been many years, I know I’ve lived through a bunch of them, where you start, we all have expectations and hopes for starting the season looking a certain way and what it requires is a lot of hard work and improvement. I don’t know that anyone is where they want to be at this point, but the progress you make going forward is really the most important part of our journey.”
This “journey” isn’t going to get much easier for the Patriots’ offense.
Maye and McDaniels just have to find a way to make it more pleasant. And they had better be quick about it.
