Rookie quarterback, rookie head coach.

You take the good with the bad concerning both.

Drake Maye made some big plays in Sunday’s 20-17 loss at the hands of the Tennessee Titans in Music City – not the least of which was an all time national highlight of him escaping trouble, running around and hitting Rhamondre Stevenson for the game-tying TD as regulation time expired.

But then he ended the game with one of his three turnovers, an interception.

“That might have been the longest play I’ve ever been a part of,” Patriots veteran receiver Kendrick Bourne said, “which was impressive, but we got to just keeper working for him, you know, he’s looking for help. So Drake obviously made a great play.”

“We ended up coming up short,” Maye said, “it really doesn’t matter at this point.”

Ahhh but it does. The Patriots know they’ve got the right guy for years to come taking snaps from center. Rookies make mistakes, and Maye made plenty of them, and you cringe when he starts running, hoping he doesn’t end up in Tua Territory – referring to Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa who has had numerous concussions when he takes off and runs and gets hit, like a few weeks ago.

“I’m sure we’ll watch the film and say things and second guess whether to slide or not to slide,” Patriots first-year head coach Jerod Mayo said. “But he’s healthy and I think that’s the important thing.”

And Mayo knows the Maye will grow from where he is now in eliminating the turnovers.

“He’ll learn from his mistakes,” Mayo said. “That’s one thing if you want to go back to a characteristic, he learns from his mistakes, and he’ll be better for it.”

But you could tell from Patriot players comments after the game that Maye is a locker room favorite, and that there certainly was truth to the word that many felt the rookie should have been playing from the start.

“Nobody was surprised,” Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez said of Maye’s big game-tying play. “Honestly. Drake does stuff like that all the time. He fought and di all he could. I’m proud of him, happy for him. I know he’s hurting, we’re all hurting, but it’s nice to see it.”

“The guy is special,” Patriots tight end Hunter Henry said. “Just the way he competes, the way he plays, the way he continues to fight. I’m excited to continue to go out there and play with him. He’s very special.”

So there you go. Now, let’s get to the head coach, who certainly raised some eyebrows when he was asked about whether or not the length of that late play caused enough fatigue to avoid going for two.

“I don’t want to get into that,” Mayo said. “It’s a good question. I just don’t want to get into it now.”

Odds are he’ll be asked about that again maybe as you read this this Monday morning. But here’s the thing: what was the issue? Did Mayo want to go for two and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt not? Usually, the head coach, or at least an experienced one, will decide as the drive gets close to fruition whether he wants to go try to win the game or take things to overtime. He’ll then tell the offensive staff to have a two-point play ready if that’s the route he wants. Maybe that happened. Maybe not.

Maye agreed with the decision, saying afterward “I was just trying to catch my breath. … We’re out there that long on such a high intensity drive I think it’s hard to go for two.”

Hey we get tired just walking up a set of bleachers, so who are we to say?

Mayo, meanwhile, clearly has the room. The Patriots played hard. They responded to his “soft” comment with last week’s win. They didn’t take winning or the Titans for granted. Maye tried to make a play at the end and it didn’t work.

“I think sometimes, as well as he’s played, sometimes you forget how young he is,” Mayo said. “And he’s going to continue to develop, and he’ll be a good quarterback in this league.

“We’ll all learn from this, myself included.”

That’s what rookies are supposed to do. Check in next November when Maye ad Mayo aren’t rookies anymore to see for sure.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.