Takeaways from Patriots' 25-22 win over Jets as Drake Maye leaves with concussion

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The one thing Patriots fans feared most when Drake Maye was thrust into the starting quarterback role occurred Sunday. The rookie got injured in Sunday’s 25-22 win over the New York Jets.

The Patriots’ normally leaky offensive line wasn’t the cause of Maye’s concussion, however. The young quarterback took off scrambling, bounced off of a defender and kept going before sliding late and taking a helmet-to-helmet shot to the back of his head from Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood with 1:09 left in the first quarter. He got up off the turf slow, motioned to an official that he was OK and stayed in the game.

Maye went into the blue pop-up medical tent on the Patriots’ sideline after the series, however, and departed for the locker room after he emerged. Maye was originally ruled as questionable to return with a head injury but was officially ruled out after halftime with a concussion.

The Patriots didn’t quit, however, after losing their starting quarterback.

Veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett relieved Maye and went 15-of-24 for 132 yards with three carries for 11 yards. He also tossed a two-point conversion.

He led the Patriots on an 11-play, 70-yard drive to take a 25-22 lead. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson capped it off with a 1-yard touchdown run and a reception on the two-point conversion.

The Patriots opened the scoring on their second drive of the game when Maye scrambled 17 yards for touchdown run after a 10-play, 77-yard series. Maye picked up 28 yards with his feet and 23 yards with his legs.

The Jets scored on their ensuing drive on a 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Aaron Rodgers to tight end Tyler Conklin, but kicker Greg Zuerlein missed the extra point to make it 7-6.

Maye suffered his head injury on an 18-yard scramble on the Patriots’ next drive. He didn’t come out of the game until after the Patriots punted, however.

The Jets responded with another touchdown with Rodgers hitting wide receiver Xavier Gipson from 1 yard out.

The Patriots forced the Jets to punt coming out of the half. Returner Marcus Jones took it 62 yards to the Jets’ 26-yard line. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson capped off the five-play, 26-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to take a 14-13 lead. The Jets quickly got back on top with a field goal to go ahead 16-13.

The Patriots took a 17-16 lead midway through the fourth quarter when Brissett led the offense on a 14-play, 61-yard drive that culminated with a 23-yard field goal from kicker Joey Slye.

It didn’t last for long, however. The Jets then strung together a 10-play, 70-yard drive to march down the field, score on a 2-yard touchdown run from rookie running back Braelon Allen and take a 22-17 lead after a failed two-point conversion attempt.

Takeaways

— Patriots accept Mayo’s challenge.

Patriots players said this week that they would use Jerod Mayo’s message after Week 7, when he called his team “soft,” as motivation or a challenge. So, how did it go using Mayo’s definition that a tough team can stop the run, run the ball and cover kicks?

The Patriots allowed 111 yards on 28 carries for 4 yards per attempt, which was an improvement over past weeks. Their running backs carried the ball 25 times for 55 yards with three touchdowns, so they still can’t always run the ball. And the Patriots allowed a 40-yard punt return.

The Patriots didn’t always play well on Sunday. But they didn’t quit.

This didn’t look like a soft team.

— Wide receivers aren’t backing up talk.

The Patriots’ young wide receiver corps talks a big game during the week then can’t back it up on Sundays. This week’s stat lines:

Kayshon Boutte: three catches, 46 yards, two drops

Tyquan Thornton: two catches, 20 yards, one drop

DeMario Douglas: two catches, 12 yards, one drop

WR Kendrick Bourne: no catches, one drop

WR K.J. Osborn: no catches

To Boutte’s credit, he was big down the stretch on the Patriots’ game-winning drive with two key catches.

— Coverage uneven.

With starting safeties Kyle Dugger (ankle) and Jabrill Peppers (commissioner’s exempt list) both out, cornerback Jonathan Jones played deep more in Sunday’s win. That left Christian Gonzalez on Davante Adams most of the game and Marcus Jones on Garrett Wilson.

Gonzalez played exceptionally, but Jones allowed over 100 yards in a tough matchup with one of the league’s better wide receivers.

Ups

QB Drake Maye: The UNC product was 3-of-6 for 23 yards before leaving the game, but two of those incompletions were drops by wide receivers Tyquan Thornton and Kayshon Boutte. Maye also scrambled three times for 46 yards.

CB Christian Gonzalez: Yes, Gonzalez was flagged for defensive pass interference, but it was a ticky-tack call. Otherwise, Gonzalez registered a pass breakup and was excellent against Jets wide receiver Davante Adams.

RB Rhamondre Stevenson: Sure, Stevenson only averaged 2.4 yards per carry on Sunday, but he scored two rushing touchdowns and caught a two-point conversion.

PR Marcus Jones: Jones set the Patriots up for a touchdown with a 62-yard punt return. His defense, on the other hand …

Downs

CB Marcus Jones: Jones drew a tough assignment against Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson and allowed over 100 yards.

WR Tyquan Thornton: Thornton was a healthy scratch for two straight weeks. He got another chance Sunday and dropped a pass from Maye.

LB Christian Elliss: For the second time this season, Elliss was flagged for a costly defensive pass interference penalty. This one set the Jets up for their first touchdown. He also let up a big play in coverage but did have a key sack.

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