FOXBORO -- Drake Maye appears to be progressing through the NFL's concussion protocol, and it appears as though he has a very real chance to play on Sunday in Tennessee. That's the good news for the Patriots.
The bad news is that their prized No. 3 overall pick, who has in a very short period of time established himself as one of the team's best players, is already dealing with his first concussion as a starter just three games into his tenure in that role.
Given his importance to the organization for the long haul, it would make sense if -- even after Maye is cleared for contact and back on the field -- the Patriots reconsidered how they asked him to play in order for him to be better protected.
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Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt indicated on Thursday that he wouldn't ask Maye to stop running. But it's clear there are certain coaching points that Van Pelt will continue to emphasize with Maye so that he can continue to play to his strengths as a mobile quarterback... but do so as safely as possible.
"You hate to take that away from a player," Van Pelt said of Maye's scrambling ability. "That's a strength of his is his ability to move in the pocket. One of the things we've talked about is being safe and slide.
"Oftentimes you get into space and you think you're clean, and you go feet first, which is what we coach in open space, but you never know what's coming behind. Quarterbacks that avoid injury oftentimes will find the soft place by going head first and just getting down in that regard. It's something we continue to work with with him, understanding what's around you in those situations.
"Ultimately you're going into every game asking him to protect the ball and protect himself. That goes for every quarterback."
The play that knocked Maye out of New England's win over the Jets was perhaps a bit of an outlier. He was bumped off-balance while scrambling up the middle for a first down. Once he regained balance, he went into his slide, but by that point Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood was within striking distance.
The helmet-to-helmet hit from behind that Maye absorbed wasn't enough to bounce him from play immediately, but eventually he was put through testing on the sideline and later sent to the locker room and officially removed from the game.
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Jerod Mayo said later that Maye seemed to be in good spirits and wished he could re-enter. During Thursday's Patriots practice, Maye's workload appeared to be ticking upward after being limited to 30 minutes of practice time on Wednesday.
If he can clear all five phases of the return-to-participation program that is part of the league's protocol, Maye could play against the Titans in Nashville on Sunday.
If he is, don't expect to see a flurry of quarterback runs.
The Patriots have yet to execute a designed quarterback run since Maye's entry into the starting lineup. The reason, Van Pelt said? To limit the number of hits Maye is subjected to, knowing he'll likely take a lick or two given his playing style as an effective (and frequent) scrambler.
Maye leads all quarterbacks (minimum 10 rushing attempts) with an average yards-per-carry mark of 8.8. And to this point in the season, among quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks, Maye has the second-highest scramble rate in the league (12.3 percent) behind only fellow rookie Jayden Daniels (14.8 percent).
Unless it's the right scenario, Van Pelt isn't necessarily looking to add more carries to Maye's plate by calling for designed runs.
"I've been in systems where you have quarterback runs, and it's led to injury, season-ending injury," Van Pelt said. "I know the value of that position. High-leverage situations -- fourth-and-one, game on the line -- maybe.
"But he's gonna make enough plays outside the pocket in the normal dropback game and play-action game where he's scrambling. Again, ultimately it's a balance of protecting your quarterback. I have to protect him as well."