This Drake Maye stat will help Patriots fans sleep at night even if team keeps losing

The New England Patriots fell to 1-6 with a galling loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Sunday. It was not pretty. After the game, Jerod Mayo called out his team, calling them soft and riling up a displeased fanbase. It has only been seven weeks, but life without Bill Belichick has not been as smooth as New England fans expected.

If there's a positive — a light at the end of the tunnel — it's Drake Maye, the reigning No. 3 overall pick who made his second career start this weekend. He completed 26-of-37 for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the Patriots with 18 rushing yards, a sad but true fact. At least Maye is making his presence felt across the board.

Through two weeks, Maye has been a noticeable upgrade over Jacoby Brissett under center. The 21-year-old rookie has five touchdowns, compared to two interceptions, and he has completed 64.1 percent of his passes.

New England's offense is at least moving the football a bit, even if the Patriots' lack of a consistent run game has hung Maye out to dry more than once. He's doing the best he can behind a makeshift offensive line, surrounded by mediocre wide receivers and embedded in a lackluster scheme. With all that is working against Maye, it's impressive how well he has done so far.

In fact, Maye is off to a historically good start for the Patriots. Like, in Dan Marino territory.

Drake Maye is off to historically strong start despite Patriots' struggles

There was understandable concern that plugging Maye into the starting gig too early might stall his development, rather than enhancing it. Brissett was clearly a level below from the jump, but New England's offensive ecosystem is not conducive to winning football. We saw what playing behind the Patriots' O-line did to Mac Jones. There was fear that Maye might develop bad habits, or that he might lose confidence after a couple rough outings.

It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing through two blowout losses, but Maye is moving the chains at a respectable clip and hanging strong in the pocket, despite the constant waves of pressure from opposing defenses. He looks like he belongs, which can't be said for every rookie from this highly anticipated crop of quarterbacks. Just imagine Bo Nix trying to keep this New England offense afloat.

Maye has all your prototypical physical tools at the quarterback position. He's tall, strong, and exceedingly athletic. More than your standard, power-armed pocket passer, Maye has shown that he can improvise outside the pocket and leg out gains on the ground when need be. Those are essential skills for his early-career survival in New England. You can't be stationary with such a threadbare offensive line.

New England has a long way to go before the team is relevant and competitive, but Maye feels like the guy to lead the Patriots through his long night. Don't be shocked if Maye is widely hailed as one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks in due time.