FOXBORO — Standing tall against one of the NFL’s most fearsome pass rushes, Drake Maye lost yards just twice when he took sacks Monday night.
Both sacks were his fault.
Minutes after the Patriots’ 33-15 win over the Giants, Maye took responsibility for losing four yards in the fourth quarter of a game where his offense played with backups at left tackle and left guard and an ailing center in Garrett Bradbury. When healthy, the Pats already ranked among the worst teams in the league in pressure allowed. With almost half of their starting offensive line down and out, it seemed reasonable the Giants might spring an upset.
Well, someone forgot to tell that to backup tackle Vederian Lowe and reserve guard Ben Brown, who successfully protected Maye’s blind side all night.
“I told them I had full faith in them,” Maye said post-game. “We had a lot of reps last year dropping back and trusting those guys. I think they’re great players, and they’ve stepped up. Like I said in pregame. I think they stepped up all year; anybody thrown in the fire. Proud of them.”
Lowe had his hands full with Giants edge rusher Brian Burns, who entered Week 13 ranked second in the NFL with 13.5 sacks. Lowe admitted he had some rust to knock off initially, but stayed true to the Patriots’ game plan that seemed to turn Burns’ rare athleticism against him. Burns finished with two tackles and one QB hit.
“The edge rushers like to start off with speed, get off the ball, and then try to attack the middle of the pocket. So (I was) just listening to my coaches and how we wanted to (block) the guys and how we wanted to get them run high (above the pocket) to let Drake do what he does best,” Lowe said. “It was definitely what I was keyed into the most, and we just went out there and executed.”
During the week, the 26-year-old tackle said he received words of encouragement from Maye, whom he protected most of last year. Lowe started 13 of 14 game appearances, but became a punching bag for frustrated fans who saw the number of hits and sacks he allowed, especially in the second half of the season. Recently, Lowe revealed he played through a torn labrum in November and December, which hindered his play.
Finally recovered from his shoulder injury, which delayed his participation in training camp this past summer, Lowe felt physically prepared to replace injured rookie starter Will Campbell. Once Maye breathed confidence into him during the week, he was ready for kickoff.
“Drake has never once wavered confidence in anybody on the (offensive) line,” Lowe said. “No matter who’s in there, he has full confidence in everybody. And that gives us a lot of confidence in ourselves. We can go out there and perform knowing that (Maye) has our back. There’s nothing better than that.”