Drake Maye departs and later returns to Patriots’ game vs. Chargers after taking hard hit
Maye cleared the concussion evaluation after leaving the game.
It appeared for a moment that Drake Maye’s day against the Chargers would come to an end after one possession.
The Patriots quarterback departed Saturday’s game in the first quarter with a head injury, with the team ruling him as questionable to return. But after Maye went to the locker room and missed New England’s second drive of the game, he re-emerged from the locker room late in the first quarter and returned for the team’s third drive of the game.
Jerod Mayo told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche that Maye cleared concussion protocol, allowing him to return.
Maye’s injury occurred on the third play of the opening drive when he tried to scramble for a first down. The rookie tip-toed along the sideline on the third-and-4 run, but was ruled out of bounds two yards behind the line of scrimmage.
While the whistle blew, Maye ran for a split-second longer and took a punishing hit from Chargers safety Cam Hart. Maye immediately went down and laid on the turf for a moment before getting back up on his own and jogging toward the sideline.
Hart wasn’t penalized for his hit. Rules analyst Gene Steratore explained on the NFL Network broadcast that because Maye was running north-south and Hart appeared to properly lower his shoulder before the hit, it wasn’t an illegal hit.
Once he returned to the Patriots’ sideline, Maye went to the blue medical tent for evaluation. As the Chargers were in the middle of their second drive, Maye was seen going to the locker room, a potential sign that his day was over.
But after the Patriots went three-and-out in the drive that Jacoby Brissett filled in for Maye, the rookie quarterback popped out of the locker room and was seen talking to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt on the sideline. He also took a tablet to review plays.
On his first play back on the field, Maye took off for a nine-yard run. He was able to draw a penalty out of it as well with Chargers linebacker Junior Colson making contact with him when Maye began his slide.
Maye’s return was welcomed news for the Patriots. However, the hit provided another injury scare for him. He already missed the majority of the Patriots’ Week 8 win over the Jets when he entered the league’s concussion protocol in the first half of that game.
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