Greg Bedard and Tom E. Curran offer instant reaction and analysis following the Patriots preseason finale vs. the Commanders.
New England Patriots fans were pretty fired up after watching rookie quarterback Drake Maye lead an 11-play, 88-yard touchdown drive early in Sunday night's preseason game versus the Washington Commanders.
Three Patriots legends were quite impressed, too.
Randy Moss and Julian Edelman both shared their take on Maye's performance with posts on X:
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Devin McCourty, who now works for NBC Sports, also liked the composure and poise Maye showed on that touchdown drive.
"The best part of that drive was that it didn't all go well," McCourty said. "Fumbled snap, a penalty, just a bunch of different things. But Drake Maye was poised and had some really big throws in there. ... Drake Maye showing some great signs."
Maye completed five of six pass attempts for 71 yards and a touchdown on that first drive. He also showed off his athleticism with a couple nice runs, including a 17-yard pickup on a third-and-14 play.
If the competition for the Patriots' starting quarterback job wasn't already intense, it definitely got more interesting Sunday night because of Maye's performance. He doesn't look overwhelmed at all despite playing behind an offensive line that couldn't stop committing penalties and had issues snapping the ball.
It's going to be fascinating to see which Patriots QB gets the starting job ahead of the team's Week 1 matchup versus the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 8.
