After a year and a half away from football, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has returned to the New England Patriots. Although he is not allowed to work with quarterback Maye until this upcoming Monday, McDaniels is already raving about the second-year quarterback.

According to Mark Daniels of Mass Live, “Since getting hired by Mike Vrabel, McDaniels has taken the time to get to know Maye on a personal level.” Based on McDaniels’ recent comments, their relationship is off to a great start.

“I haven’t had a chance to really do football with him yet, but that’ll come. We’ll have plenty of time here coming up next week, but I’m smitten by the young man, in terms of just his personality,” McDaniels said. “We’ve had an opportunity to spend some time that has nothing to do with football, with one another, which I think has been great.”

McDaniels continued, “Very beneficial and productive, just to get to know him, who he is, what he’s all about, what he cares about, where he’s coming from, his family, (fiancée) Ann Michael, wedding plans, you know, all this stuff. We’ve kind of had an opportunity to talk about those kinds of things.”

After being fired mid-season by the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023, McDaniels is back for his third stint with the Patriots, where he won six combined Super Bowls during his previous two tenures.

Maye started 12 of 13 games last season, finishing with 2,276 passing yards, 15 touchdown passes, and 10 interceptions. He completed 66.6% of his pass attempts and ended the season with an 88.1 quarterback rating.

With an upgraded roster around him and McDaniels back in the fold, Maye is expected to make another leap next season. While they may be a few years away from competing with the Buffalo Bills, they should be in contention with the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets for second place in the AFC East.