A scary moment occurred on Sunday afternoon in Foxboro as former UNC football star Drake Maye was forced to leave the game due to a head injury.
The injury occurred on the play below. Maye was scrambling and was hit in the helmet by a New York Jets defender after he slid to the ground.
While a penalty would've been called in 99% of other instances, this is the 1% that the referees blatantly missed the call.
🚨NOT GOOD: The refs did not call a helmet to helmet penalty on the #Jets, after their linebacker hit Drake Maye in the head, after he slid.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) October 27, 2024
Maye is now in the locker room with a head injury.
REFS WOULD CALL THAT FOR BASICALLY EVERY QUARTERBACK… 😳😳 pic.twitter.com/Sd24iODuhT
Shortly after he left the game, the New England Patriots confirmed that the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft would not return.
Patriots injury update: QB Drake Maye (concussion) has been downgraded to out. pic.twitter.com/sozwJZAqBs
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 27, 2024
Maye got off to a great start on Sunday afternoon by leading his team to an early scoring drive. He capped off the drive with this 17-yard run, his first rushing touchdown of his career.
As you'll see in the clip, Maye outran another former Tar Heel as he found his way to the end zone.
DRAKE MAYE. 17-yard rushing TD for the rookie!
— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024
📺: #NYJvsNE on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/QCLpeTf9xG
The hope is that the concussion isn't too serious, allowing Maye to return to action as soon as possible. For now, Patriots fans (and UNC football fans) hold their breath as they hope No. 10 is okay.