New England Patriots
“I told him, ‘That one is on me,’ and to forget about it.”
Mike Vrabel calls referee ‘sensitive’ after being flagged for cursing at him
Drake Maye, Patriots offense quiet doubters with statement win in Buffalo
Romeo Doubs didn’t have a defender within three yards of him when Drake Maye planted his foot and tossed a quick slant in his direction.
The throw was low and Doubs had to dive for it. The lanky receiver got his hands on the ball, but he began to roll on the ground as his momentum carried him.
Somehow during this process, the ball left Doubs’s hands and wound up with Buffalo’s Dee Alford who turned and sprinted over as Doubs was falling.
“I threw him a low ball on a slant that I’ve thrown since I was five years old in the backyard,” Maye said. “I told him ‘that one is on me’ and to forget about it.”
Coach Mike Vrabel called the mistake “unfortunate” during an interview on the CBS broadcast. The turnover set Buffalo up within field-goal range, and the Bills broke the 14-14 tie just before halftime.
Doubs was not asked about the interception during his postgame press conference.
The Patriots ultimately overcame the 17-14 halftime deficit, but the play remains a part of the most bizarre sequence of the game. Kahlil Shakir fumbled the ball after making an 8-yard catch, but the Patriots gave the ball right back to Buffalo on the very next play.
Maye and the offense took a leap forward from the dismal performance they put forth against Jacksonville last week. Doubs described emotions he felt walking into the Patriots’ locker room after the win.
“It was excitement. A lot of emotion. There was excitement, joy, passion, whatever you can name, but I speak for obviously the team, myself, whatever the case may be, I just look forward to moving on and putting my best foot forward.
The quarterback cracked a smile as he was asked about Doubs’s performance. Doubs was involved in the interception, but he also caught two of Maye’s three touchdown passes in the win. Maye had said earlier in the week that he loved the progress Doubs has been making over the course of the season. Doubs has caught 12 of his last 17 targets and now leads the team in touchdown catches.
“I try not to lie to you guys,” a grinning Maye told reporters. “I try to keep it straight.”
The connection between Maye and Doubs is still a work in progress, but they showed positive momentum on Sunday. They opened the scoring when Maye hit Doubs on a post for a touchdown in the first quarter. Doubs later won a one-on-one matchup in the endzone on a fade and Maye placed the ball exactly where it needed to be for the receiver to reel in a one-handed catch.
“It’s growing, and it’s maturing,” Doubs said. “He knows better than I do that the process is more important than anything. We just look forward, as a team, to just putting our best foot forward.”
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