Patriots’ Drake Maye vs. Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa could be the first meeting of many

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) - Sunday’s matchup between Tua Tagovailoa’s Miami Dolphins and Drake Maye’s New England Patriots could be the first of many.

Tagovailoa signed a long-term deal with the Dolphins this offseason, and based on how Maye has played in seven games, Tagovailoa expects he could be going against the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft for a long time.

"I respect his game a lot," Tagovailoa said. "He's a rookie, so there's going to be bumps within his journey, but you see a lot of flashes of things that he can do, not just inside the pocket, outside of the pocket as well. I've got a lot of respect for him and looking forward to competing against him."

Maye will first need to help the Patriots get past their division rivals - a matchup that has lately been one-sided in the Dolphins’ favor. Tagovailoa is 6-0 in his career against the Patriots. And Miami coach Mike McDaniel is 4-1 against New England.

"It means nothing for this week," McDaniel said Wednesday.

"I think the biggest setup in the National Football League is praise or overindulgence into stats of former teams," he added. "It is the Miami Dolphins versus the New England Patriots on Sunday."

This year’s Dolphins (4-6) have won two straight and are still hoping to make a playoff run, while the Patriots (3-8) have made clear this is a rebuilding year.

The Dolphins beat the host Patriots 15-10 in Week 5 without Tagovailoa, who was on injured reserve with a concussion. The Patriots also hadn’t turned to Maye yet, instead going with veteran Jacoby Brissett.

On Sunday, Miami has a chance to sweep New England in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999-2000.

"I don't know if I can put a finger to it," tight end Hunter Henry said of his team’s struggles against Miami. "I think it's just obviously we got to go down there and execute, play our brand of football - not turning the ball over, playing from ahead, taking the fight to them a little bit.”

Maye is coming off one of his better statistical performances in last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

He completed 30 of 40 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns but also fumbled after he was sacked deep in New England territory, leading to a Rams TD.

"I think the big thing about football is that I think football is easy and people are complicated," Maye said. "I think the best thing to do at the end of the day is simplify it, and try to make it simple and be on the same page. I think we're learning that and feeling our way through that.”

The Dolphins will be preparing for his scrambling ability.

Maye is averaging 9.3 yards per rush with 260 yards on 258 attempts. The highest single-season rushing average for an NFL quarterback is 8.5 by Atlanta’s Michael Vick in 2006 (123 attempts for 1,039 yards).

"The thing with all these new crop of young quarterbacks," Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said, “is that when plays break down, they have the ability to create extended plays. … This is not me saying he’s Josh Allen, but you’ve kind of got to approach him like Josh Allen a little bit where you're trying to funnel him certain directions and try to contain his rush ability as much as you can."

The Patriots rank 29th in the league in red-zone efficiency, converting touchdowns on only 15 of 32 chances (46.9%) inside the 20-yard line.

Although they went 2 of 5 in last week's loss to the Rams, Maye was encouraged.

"I think it's just on ourselves, whether it's go the extra effort, or maybe some little things here or there," Maye said. "I think we moved the ball well. Those guys put some good film on tape. At the end of the game we had a chance there, and I put that on myself to go make a play down the stretch."

McDaniel said many of the Dolphins’ lineup changes this season came down to him making tough decisions that are best for the team.

Tight end Durham Smythe, Miami’s third-leading receiver last year, has seen a significant decrease in his snaps as offseason signing Jonnu Smith emerged. Running back Raheem Mostert has lost some carries over the past few weeks after crucial fumbles in two recent games.

And linebacker David Long Jr. began the season as a captain before losing his starting job to Anthony Walker Jr. a few weeks ago. Long appeared to regress in pass coverage this season and only played on special teams in Weeks 9 and 10 before being waived on Nov. 13.

"I think it's important that people understand you're entitled to nothing in this world," McDaniel said. "Playing time is solved by players on the field, and the best players have to play, and that's my job to follow through with that."

He added that lineup changes are fluid and not always about a player’s shortcomings.

"I don't believe in quote-unquote 'to send a message' at the expense of someone's career," he said.

The Dolphins have had 18 scoring drives of 10-plus plays and five scoring drives of 14-plus plays this season - an evolution from last season, when Miami had 21 scoring drives of 10 plays or more and just three of 14 plays or more.

Miami has scored 11 touchdowns in 15 trips to the red zone since Week 8. The Dolphins are seventh in the league in goal-to-go efficiency, scoring nine touchdowns in 10 tries since Week 8.

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AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower in Foxborough, Massachusetts, contributed to this report.