If Mike Vrabel was drawing it up, he probably wouldn't have asked for much more than Tommy DeVito gave the New England Patriots in Thursday night's preseason 13-13 stalemate against the Indianapolis Colts.
Drake Maye's backup played the first half and completed 13 of 22 pass attempts for 138 yards (6.3 yards per attempt) with no turnovers.
Especially sharp on TD march
He led one touchdown march, a 12-play, 82-yard drive that ate up 6:27 of the second quarter. On the drive, DeVito was six of seven for 58 yards and the 12-yard score to Kyle Williams.
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
After some early accuracy issues, at least three heaters in the opening quarter missed high as he opened 2 of 5 for 9 yards, DeVito settled down and commanded the offense, finishing the half with a 10-7 advantage.
He got better as he eased into the game with a confidence that his teammates on the offense could feel.
Feeling the excitement of the moment
"Good. I thought there may be a couple balls he would like to have back, but I thought that there was good operation. I thought there was good placement," said Vrabel. "I thought for the most part, he was pretty accurate and the ball came out on time."
As solid as he's been all summer long, DeVito needed a night like this to cement his spot as the backup. There will be a respect that goes along with the effort, one he didn't have in 2025, simply because he joined the Patriots after his release from New York in late August.
Huge strides made
"I think for myself I missed a couple throws early … maybe the juices were flowing a little too much," said DeVito. "So much growth from the first day I got here last year until now. There's so much more to that I can grow even more. I'm looking forward to it."
If anyone doubted that DeVito had the fastball, he doused those fears with a couple of first-half laser beams. DeVito settled into a nice rhythm, working Williams, veteran Mack Hollins and Efton Chism mainly.
