Patriots players praise 'best player in the NFL' after win over Jets

Second-year New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye produced yet another stellar outing as he guided his club to a relatively easy 27-14 win over the New York Jets that improved the Patriots to 9-2 on Thursday night. 

Following the victory, Maye's teammates showered him with praise he has earned since the beginning of what's become an eight-game winning streak. 

Patriots players wouldn't trade Drake Maye for any other QB?

"He's playing at an elite level right now," rookie New England left tackle Will Campbell said about Maye after the win, per the Patriots' website. "I'm biased, but I think he's the best player in the NFL. There's no game that we're out of when we have him. He's just, even how good of a player he is, he's an even better person and an even better teammate."

Much was made throughout the offseason about Maye's alleged need to improve as a leader. Under first-year Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Maye has become arguably the best quarterback of the season's first two months. 

Against the Jets, Maye completed 25-of-34 passes for 281 yards with a touchdown and zero interceptions. According to Pro Football Reference, he will enter the weekend ranked fourth in the NFL among qualified players with a 74.1 adjusted QBR, fifth with a 113.2 passer rating and first with 2,836 total passing yards. Over 11 games, he tossed 20 touchdown passes and only five interceptions. 

Patriots players have one pick for MVP

As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Maye as the overall betting favorite at +235 odds to claim the Most Valuable Player Award for the regular season. His teammates seem to agree with such outlets. 

"He’s my MVP, man," Patriots tight end Hunter Henry said about Maye, as Chad Graff shared for The Athletic. "I love him to death as a player, and I love him to death as a person. He’s my guy. I’ll go to bat for him wherever he wants. I love competing with him, love playing with him, and just love being on this team with him."

Throughout the fall, Maye's teammates have touched upon how he embraced Vrabel's offseason challenge to grow as a leader. Per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, wide receiver Stefon Diggs referred to Maye as "the commander of the offense" following Thursday's contest.

"Sometimes I go the wrong way, I don’t do things perfect, but he has the line of communication of being the quarterback, being the leader, he’s one of the pillars of the offense that keeps us in the right spot," Diggs added about Maye.

The Patriots will now get some rest before they begin preparing to face the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 23. 3-6 Cincinnati plays at the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4) this Sunday.