Drake Maye is among the nine players the Patriots list as questionable.
Drake May is among nine players on the Patriots' roster who are questionable. Let's welcome our Patriots reporter, Mike Rea, and NFL analyst Mina Kimes.
And Mike, what else can you tell us about Drake May's absence? Okay, Brian, I want to add something that you just heard from Mike Vrabel.
He was asked if Drake May had not been sick, would he have practiced today? And he said yes. Oh, but here's the deal. I said,
We've been dealing with this illness for six weeks or so with other players." So, he's trying to protect not just Drake May but the rest of the team.
He added that Drake May came in for meetings this morning, but you can't talk about that without mentioning the shoulder. And I want to drill,
Brian, what do you do with your own two eyes in terms of what we know and what we know about it? Drake May has admitted that he's not 100 percent.
But he expressed confidence that he'll be there by the time the Super Bowl comes around, and he didn't think the shoulder would affect his ability to throw in the Super Bowl.
But I want to tell you that it was unusual when I was at practice on Thursday, and he was there. We usually see quarterbacks throwing in practice.
And none of the quarterbacks Didn't throw in practice. So Mike Riel said they've got their game plan for first down, second down, and third down.
They're going to have four practices in California, and all eyes will be on Drake Mays and how much he's throwing in those practices in California. Yeah, absolutely. Okay,
Mina, I think Drake is good for Super Bowl Sunday. Um, give me your key to the Patriots offense for Seattle's defense, which is ranked the top in the NFL.
Well, they're going to need that shoulder to work because Drake Mays, I believe, is going to have to push the ball downfield for New England to succeed. This is not a defense.
that you can just lean over and dunk on. This is not a defense that you can just run the ball over. Luckily for New England, Drake Mays is one of the best deep throwers in the NFL this year.
And the stat that I'm interested in, I'm looking at That window is a tight completion. He led all quarterbacks in tight window completions downfield, throwing to Kahan Buti,
who has really emerged as a threat in that regard. Along with Stephan Diggs. Seattle has been excellent for much of this year. They have allowed just two points per attempt on tight window throws, second best in the league.
But we just saw Matthew Stafford get the ball downfield with a tight window completion. I think the New England Patriots will have to replicate that to get the ball moving against Seattle.
Or at least come close to it. Yeah, that was the best thing about Derek Mathis' season, throwing downfield. He was probably the best in the NFL during the regular season.
Okay, Mike Reese, thank you very much. Mina, sit down. More from you in just a moment. Okay, in the meantime, the Seahawks are coming off their fourth Super Bowl appearance.
and have won nine straight games, including the playoffs. Their second-longest streak in franchise history. Seattle Super Bowl teams have something in common: a very strong defense. This is their third time.
making the Super Bowl while leading the league in scoring defense in the regular season, which is tied for the most in NFL history. Sam Darnold has been elite this season when he's on the field.
His 32 completions of 20 or more yards in the regular season were second in the NFL behind Matthew Stafford. Okay, Mina Kim is still with us.
Let’s bring on the Lindsey Theory. And Lindsey Sam Darnold has been dealing with an oblique injury since the divisional round. What more can you tell us about
How is he progressing, and what does he look like out there on the practice field? Hi Amina. Well, I had a brief meeting with Sam Darnold before his first Super Bowl prep practice.
He tells me he’s feeling good. I asked him, of course, how many times are you going to throw the ball today, Sam? He joked around a bit. Obviously,
He doesn’t want to reveal exactly what his plan is for practice. I can tell you, Amina, he was officially listed as limited on the attendance report.
I also spoke to my teammate, Kenneth Walker, and really asked him how the offense has been able to move forward with their quarterbacks over the last two weeks of practice.
He tells me it’s all about the mental reps that Darnold is taking, as well as the mental reps the team is taking with him. He says
That’s helping the offense because we’ve really been confident in the details and sticking to our process. Now, Mike McDonald is expected.
to meet with reporters later in the day. Of course, we’ll try to find out as much as we can about that as he prepares for the Super Bowl.
So what’s Darnold’s plan? As you mentioned earlier, there are still nine days left. Feeling a lot better. Mina, what’s the key for Sam Darnold to get through this Patriots defense?
Yeah, I think Seattle has done a great job this year, which is a play-action passing attack. When they use play-action, they average 10.3 yards per play,
which is surprisingly leading the NFL. When they put heavy bodies on the field, they are exceptional. Sam gets under center.
That shows they have a lot of explosiveness. Now, the challenge here is that New England's defense has been excellent against play-action this entire season.
They are first in paper play and second in yards per play. So, it's a real power matchup between Seattle and New England, but I think Seattle is going to have to be able to
push the ball down the field the way they have been this season. Yeah, a matchup I know everyone's eyes will be on during the Super Bowl. Lindsay, thanks so much for the insight. Mina, we'll see you on the show in a little bit.
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