FOXBOROUGH – Drake Maye offered a compelling reason to be smart about when to take off and run with the football in Sunday’s AFC Divisional Round game against the Houston Texans.
Their linebackers show no mercy.
Maye said they fly around and make sure to punish any and all ball carriers, including the quarterback.
“Those guys, especially the linebackers, they’re going to try to take your head off,” Maye said Wednesday afternoon during his session with the media. “And I respect them for it. They do it at a really high level. They tackle the ball carrier hard, they’ll punish them, and they’ll make you pay for it. So, I’ve got have to have a good feel for when to take chances and when to be smart. Because those linebackers are good, and they do a good job of delivering some big-time hits.
“That’s this league, and knowing when to protect myself and trying to be good.”
Maye’s legs (10 carries, 66 yards) were a useful weapon in Sunday’s Wildcard round win against the LA Chargers.
They could be again against the vaunted Texans defense, the top-rated unit in the NFL.
“They fly around. They’re relentless,” Maye said. “They’re great up front, they’re great in the back end. They have great linebackers, they’re great all around. They got great coaching.
“So we’ve got our hands full. We know it’s going to be a tough game. We have to play the game the right way … all the hype (on film) is deserving from what I’ve seen on film. So we have to be able to stay ahead of the chains. I know we have a tough task … we have to play complementary football, and from there, just find ways to get first downs and score points.”
