Opponent turned teammate shares true thoughts on Patriots' Drake Maye

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has Dre'Mont Jones' respect as the two prepare to play as teammates for the first time in 2026.

Jones lauded Maye at his press conference on Thursday.

"Drake's a hell of a quarterback," Jones said of the 2025 AP NFL MVP runner-up. “He gave us a lot of problems. The memory that burns in my head is when we had him on 4th-and-3, and he threw that out route, and I was in Baltimore. I thought we had him stopped to ice the game. ...That just lets you know how talented of a quarterback he is.”

Jones played against Maye as a member of the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans last season. Two of Jones' seven sacks on the season came in both games that he played against the Patriots, in Week 7 with the Titans, and again in Week 16 with the Ravens.

Maye handed Jones a loss in both of those games last season. Maye completed a season-high 91.3 percent of his passes in New England's win over Tennessee, and also went for 380 passing yards against Baltimore, another season-high for the second-team All-Pro quarterback.

Jones got a firsthand look at Maye's accuracy and talent in the pocket in 2025. Now, the Ohio State product will look to help take teams off the field with verve in 2026 and give Maye more time to operate on drives next season.