Patriots QB Drake Maye and receiver Kayson Boutte celebrate their TD connection Sunday in Nashville. (AP photo)

We are now entering the period of New England Patriots football when the soft schedule should be taking effect.

There should no longer be a fear that the Patriots aren’t ready when it comes to playing inferior opponents because they have the better quarterback in all of those matchups.

Browns? Definitely. Falcons? No doubt. Jets? Please, we can’t stop laughing. And so on and so on.

Maye is protected better than he was a year ago. If the Patriots can run the ball more effectively, he won’t need the street ball type of game he’s excelled at. In training camp he showed an air of confidence. He had some hesitation in the season opener but not any of that since, even in the turnover fest vs. the Steelers. He puts the ball in spots where only his receivers can get it, he’s not shy about taking any shots downfield.

Patriot fans haven’t seen much of this Drake Maye in person. They’ll get that chance on Sunday when the Cleveland Browns come to Gillette.

But Vrabel can tell you all about him.

“The quarterback throws it in tight windows,” Vrabel said. “I think there’s an athleticism to him that’s really, really cool. I think he’s really accurate from all different spots, whether it’s in the pocket, off platform, he’s really done a nice job so far, spreading the football around.

“But there’s an accuracy to him that’s really good for us.There’s a lot of demand from Josh and myself and I think he’s responded to that as far as the leadership he’s had to show the offense.

“He kept talking about how he wants to earn it; I told him he’s earned it. He doesn’t like something in practice, he gets it fixed. He wants a better Friday practice than he talks about it before we go out there on Friday. I think those guys respond to him, the things that he says and the way he operates.”

The one thing the Patriots have lacked has been the running game – but that was solved in a way this past Sunday. You should be able to run the ball against inferior teams, and that makes Maye all that more dangerous to opponents.

“I thought we were more decisive. I thought we gave (New England’s backs) a chance early at the line of scrimmage. To be able to get into the line of scrimmage, to be able to make some breaks and give them some space, there’s a lot there to continue to improve on. If you want to hit some big ones, you’re going to have to be able to block support players, you’re going to have to be able to block safeties, block force.

“But I thought we got them through the line of scrimmage at times. I thought we were decisive. There were times where there wasn’t anything there and we got a couple yards, and then there were times where there was things there and we got double digit runs.”

But the Patriots are missing the boat, it seems, on back TreVeyon Henderson. He likely has more value as a receiver in space than a runner; the problem is Henderson has been poor in blitz pickup. Maye is the golden goose, and his health is paramount.

Now three of the next four are home. This should be interesting.

“Well, we’re going to focus on the next one, not five of the next seven, but certainly have appreciated the way that we’ve played on the road,” Vrabel said. “And we know how important the home games are. You have to hold serve, you have to be great at home and use that to an advantage to where it’s hard to operate, we’re giving them reasons to cheer, celebrate and be excited. And so, those are things that are important to us. So, hopefully we’ll give them that product this weekend.”

It’s the NFL, so you never know. But these Patriots don’t seem to be taking anything for granted. The product will be a good one the rest of the way.

This week’s rankings:

AFC

1.Denver (5-2). 2. New England (5-2). 3. Buffalo (4-2). 4. Indianapolis (6-1). 5. Pittsburgh (4-2).

NFC

1.Philadelphia (5-2). 2. Detroit (5-2). 3. L.A. Rams (5-2). 4.Green Bay (4-1-5).5.Tampa Bay (5-2)