Drake Maye on playing his hometown Panthers for the first time

Earlier than he would observe in Cam Newton’s footsteps as a Patriots quarterback, Drake Maye grew up watching the previous league MVP play for his hometown Carolina Panthers.

Maye, who grew up simply north of Charlotte in Huntersville N.C., recalled what he felt like watching Newton lead the Panthers to Tremendous Bowl 50. Maye, who was 12 on the time, was there watching because the Panthers fell 24-10 to the Broncos.

“I went to the Tremendous Bowl after they misplaced to Peyton Manning, and that was robust,” Maye said. “However yeah, simply that season. I feel they had been 15-1. I used to be at that NFC Championship recreation at dwelling, huge time win. Simply being a fan of Cam [Newton] was most likely the largest reminiscence, him popping out right here, doing the airplane and hitting ‘The Cam.’”

“So, simply little issues like that, and attending to know him in a while and enjoying him. He coached the 7-on-7 group and enjoying in opposition to him and seeing stuff like that. So, simply attending to know a few of the gamers round has been fairly cool.”

On Sunday, the Patriots will host the Panthers at Gillette Stadium. With the Panthers touring to Foxborough, it received’t precisely be a homecoming for Maye.

“It’s completely different enjoying up right here,” Maye stated. “Going again to Charlotte would have been completely different, however going in opposition to the group that I grew up watching, grew up cheering for. A whole lot of nice recollections in that stadium again at Financial institution of America.”

“So yeah, it’s somewhat completely different, however on the identical time, it’s nonetheless simply one other week. One other week within the NFL, and not one of the identical gamers that I grew up rooting for moreover the lengthy snapper are nonetheless there.”

It would, nonetheless, be a possibility to steer the Patriots again to .500. New England (1-2) is coming off of a turnover-riddled dwelling loss to the Steelers. The Patriots turned the ball over 5 instances. Maye had a fumble and an interception.

“Not beating ourselves. That’s the massive factor,” Maye stated. “Shoot, it’s turnovers. Turnovers on this league are such a giant deal. It’s a kind of issues that we will clear up.

“Holding onto the soccer, me holding on within the pocket and the working backs is one thing that I do assume is fixable. It’s one thing that you simply attempt to overemphasize, and normally whenever you overemphasize issues, you repair it.”

The Patriots and Panthers have break up the all-time collection 4-4, with the newest assembly being a 24-6 Patriots win in 2021.

It is going to be Maye’s first time enjoying in opposition to the franchise he grew up rooting for.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports activities Reporter

Khari Thompson covers skilled sports activities for Boston.com. Earlier than becoming a member of the group in 2022, Khari lined faculty soccer for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.