What Texas coaches thought about Drake Maye in his first NFL start – NBC Sports Boston

There was a lot of excitement around Drake Maye in New England after the rookie quarterback threw three touchdown passes in his first NFL start against the Houston Texans last Sunday.

But do Maye's opponents also accept the hype?

Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated moved to NBC Sports Boston Patriots Pregame Live on Sunday morning to relay what some Texans coaches were telling him about Maye's performance — a 20-for-33 effort for 243 yards with three touchdowns, two interceptions and a fumble in a 41-21 Patriots loss.

And they weren't quite as optimistic about the No. 3 overall pick.

“I've been talking to a few Texas coaches over the last few days,” Breer said, as seen in the video player above. “One guy said to me, ‘I would give him an incomplete grade. We gave them those two long touchdowns in man coverage. He put the ball there, that's good for him. But I'm wondering now if more teams will play them in zone coverage, so he has to decipher what's going on out there.'

“'On the whole he is above the norm in many areas, but in none of them may he be among the elite. Good accuracy, good arm strength, good athlete, good kid.'

“This coach actually said they need Rhamondre Stevenson back to fix their offensive line problem, which I think the rest of us can see too. So a pretty good start for Drake Maye, but there are still a lot of questions to be answered going forward.” “

Mayes' first NFL TD pass was a 40-yard strike to Kayshon Boutte, who beat Texas cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. in man coverage on a go route. Maye made several strong throws and showed his command of the offense after a shaky start, but now that there is game tape on the rookie quarterback, he should expect opposing defenses to see a lot more offense in the future.

This scouting report is a good reality check for Patriots fans; While there's a lot to be excited about with Maye, he still has plenty of room to grow and could face some challenges as defenses become more familiar with his game.

Still, there's no doubt that Maye has a higher ceiling than veteran Jacoby Brissett, as a Texans employee made sure to tell Breer after the rookie threw a touchdown pass in the Patriots' opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Sunday.

Check out the video above for more information from Breer about Maye.