Drake Maye was in the shotgun, both hands in the pockets of the warmer he was wearing, hardly concerned about what the defense was showing him.

It was “Monday Night Football,” a prime-time showcase on the first day of December, and the 23-year-old quarterback looked relaxed.

It was the fifth offensive snap of the game against the New York Giants, and the Patriots had called a play Maye had watched Tom Brady run countless times. Brady once estimated he threw for 7,000 career yards on this play alone. HOSS Z-juke. A Josh McDaniels staple.

It’s the kind of play McDaniels, the team’s offensive coordinator, taught Maye on their first day together — long before the Patriots’ incredible rejuvenation this season seemed possible. He then reinforced its effectiveness with videos of Brady doing it over and over.

When Maye got the snap, he looked to his left, pretending he was going to throw it there, just to get the defense to move. Then he hit Stefon Diggs on the right, on the same route Julian Edelman and Wes Welker used to run, for 13 yards.

In the micro sense, it was a small moment. A first down on the opening drive of another New England win this season. But in the bigger picture, that play — and that whole night — was emblematic of the massive strides Maye took in his second NFL season. Of the way he became the engine that powered the NFL’s greatest one-year turnaround.

Maye is now an MVP candidate. He broke Brady’s franchise record for completion percentage in a season and became the youngest player ever to lead the NFL in that statistic. He was one of the two most important people in flipping the Patriots from a 4-13 disaster to a 14-3 powerhouse set to host the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

As one former NFL general manager texted after Maye threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns in that Giants game, “That was Brady-like.”

Maye’s rookie season was filled with glimpses of the upside that made him the No. 3 overall pick in 2024. But there was also enough that went wrong to wonder if it might be more realistic to temper expectations. He finished his rookie season with 10 interceptions and nine fumbles in 12 starts.

The story of how Maye got to this point — after one of the biggest Year 2 jumps we’ve ever seen — certainly should give plenty of credit to Maye himself. He was always talented, with a live arm, and has worked incredibly hard to become the player he is.

For it to happen this quickly, however, speaks to the fast-track PhD in quarterbacking that McDaniels and head coach Mike Vrabel have given him. Their plan was pretty simple. McDaniels handled the X’s and O’s. Vrabel worked with him on being a leader.

From McDaniels, he learned the intricacies of schematics. Why Brady was able to be so decisive. What to do in certain situations. How to read a play. From Vrabel, a master class in leading a team. A focus on the importance of celebrating with his teammates. On being one of the guys. On knowing when and how to speak up.