Josh McDaniels Shrugs Off Warner's Critique of Drake Maye’s Style of Play
Retired quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner raised eyebrows when he said during a midweek appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show" that he feels New England Patriots second-year signal-caller Drake Maye relies too much on "backyard football" tendencies.
While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was asked about Warner's remarks.
Drake Maye often "makes a play" for New England Patriots offense
"Well, when it works ... players make plays," McDaniels said, per Karen Guregian of MassLive. "Sometimes the design of the offense either isn’t good enough on a certain play, and the player extends it, or the defense does something to stop us from doing what we’d like to do initially, then the player makes a play. I think that happens a lot in football. It just gets talked about a lot more when it’s the quarterback."
Maye made plenty of plays during New England's 23-20 victory at the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills this past Sunday night. Most notably, he completed 13-of-14 passes for 184 yards over the contest's final two quarters before Andres Borregales kicked a game-winning field goal with 15 seconds remaining in regulation.
That said, Warner warned that Maye has "got to be able to consistently live in the pocket when the situation dictates that and then go create and be that special playmaker beyond that." McDaniels seemingly isn't losing sleep over the fact that Maye goes off-script more than Warner would like to see from the 23-year-old.
Josh McDaniels reminds Drake Maye to sometimes give up on certain plays
"Hopefully it ends in a play that either doesn’t hurt us, or we have an opportunity to extend the drive," McDaniels explained about his mindset. "And I thought (Maye) made a few good decisions the other night, and made some plays out of it. There will be times when he’s just got to throw the ball away, which he’s done that plenty of times."
The StatMuse website shows that Maye enters the weekend ranked seventh in the NFL with a combined 1,371 passing and rushing yards on the season. He's also tied for 10th with nine combined passing and rushing scores.
Maye will look to build upon his Week 5 outing when 3-2 New England plays at the New Orleans Saints (1-4) this Sunday. As of Friday morning, ESPN BET had the Patriots as 3.5-point road favorites for that matchup.
Browns’ OC Tommy Rees Shares Plans for New OT Cam Robinson After Limited Debut
The Cleveland Browns have been very busy on the trade market over the past couple of weeks, as they have swung three separate deals recently that have shaken up their roster. The first of that bunch saw them acquire offensive lineman Cam Robinson and a seventh-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft from the Houston Texans in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2027 draft.
With Dawand Jones suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 3, the Browns needed some more help at left tackle, which prompted them to make a move for the veteran Robinson. After playing sparingly in his first game with his new team, though, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees opened up on what Robinson’s role with Cleveland will be moving forward.
Tommy Rees Dishes on Cam Robinson
In addition to trading for Robinson, the Browns have also sent Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals after he was benched in favor of Dillon Gabriel and acquired Tyson Campbell from the Jacksonville Jaguars, with Greg Newsome II going the other way. Of these three moves, though, Robinson’s could end up being the most important given the team’s need for help at left tackle.
Even though Robinson turned in one of the best seasons of his career last year, this is his fourth team in the past 12 months. Robinson started the 2024 campaign with the Jaguars before getting traded to the Minnesota Vikings. In free agency over the offseason, Robinson signed with the Texans, but he quickly lost his starting job at left tackle, leading to him getting sent to the Browns.
Robinson started Cleveland’s first offensive series in its Week 5 loss to the Minnesota Vikings before KT Leveston took over for him, which led to questions about Robinson’s role with the team moving forward. Rees refused to commit to Robinson as the team’s starter at left tackle in Week 6, but it sounds like his role should be expected to increase moving forward.
“Hard week for Cam. You come here and then all of a sudden, you’re going to Europe,” Rees said on Thursday. “We felt like he did a nice job during the week. We had a plan going into the game, get his feet wet a little bit, see how it continues to go. and evaluate him from there. He did a nice job for us a week ago getting ready to play, and we’ll continue to build on that.”
Will Cam Robinson Start for the Browns in Week 6?
It remains to be seen whether or not Robinson will start in Week 6, but the situation has been made a bit more complicated due to Leveston dealing with a calf injury that has limited him at practice on both Wednesday and Thursday. With Robinson not being on the injury report, could that lead to Cleveland taking the training wheels off for him sooner than expected?
The Browns draw a tough matchup in Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, with their longtime division rival featuring a strong pass rush led by T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. If Cleveland’s offensive line doesn’t hold up, it could be a long day for Gabriel under center in this one. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon, and fans will be paying close attention to Robinson to see how much he plays after his limited debut in Week 5.
