FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots are reeling after five straight losses, but rookie quarterback Drake Maye gave them a glimmer of hope in his first NFL start.

In Sunday's 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium, Maye completed 20 of 33 plays for 243 yards with three touchdowns, two interceptions and a lost fumble.

After a slow start, Maye found a more consistent groove late in the second quarter after a 40-yard deep touchdown pass to receiver Kayshon Boutte. Maye added five carries for 38 yards in the game, demonstrating the agility and athleticism that led the team to select him No. 3 overall in the NFL draft.

“It’s definitely encouraging,” first-year coach Jerod Mayo said. “From a team-wide perspective, we let him down right now.”

Maye, who has been sacked four times, admitted he was “certainly a little nervous at the start” and “had goosebumps for the first time when he was out there”. He lamented some of his mistakes – including an interception on a throw late in the first quarter after the Patriots had fallen behind 14-0 – but added: “Sometimes it was a lot of fun on offense.”

The Patriots entered Sunday averaging 12.4 points per game, 31st in the NFL, while averaging 119.4 passing yards per game. That those records were easily eclipsed in Sunday's loss gave some players confidence that Maye was in the driver's seat, even if she was playing behind a mix-and-match offensive line.

“I think he did a phenomenal job,” senior receiver Kendrick Bourne said. “He got hit, he kept playing and didn’t seem too unsettled. He stuck with what he was doing and I think that’s great because obviously we have some issues on the line as everyone knows.”

Some of Maye's best performances came late in the second quarter when the team was in its rush-up offense, starting at its own 16-yard line with 59 seconds left. A 22-yard connection to receiver DeMario Douglas on 2nd-and-8 was the catalyst for arguably his best throw of the day: a 40-yard, high-arc pass that hit Boutte on the right side with great speed and the Texans average' led to 14-7.

Late in the third quarter, Maye escaped the pocket to keep a play alive and hit tight end Hunter Henry on a 30-yard catch-and-run, which was among the other plays that caught Bourne's attention.

“The way he ran the ball was impressive. His athleticism and ability to throw on the run; it's the way he runs with his body – he runs to the left but looks forward to throw the ball. I think you see those traits all over the league, Patrick Mahomes, those new-age quarterbacks throwing the ball on the run and extending plays,” he said.

Bourne also noted the energy Maye, 22, brought to the offense and the huddle.

“He’s a natural leader,” he said. “He has an aura and that is important in football. He's that guy. You can tell when you see him.”

The Patriots (1-5) visit the Jaguars (1-5) at London's Wembley Stadium next Sunday (9:30 a.m. ET).

“We want to win. We just hate losing. That’s the most important thing,” Maye said. “I think there are some good things to take from the game but we need to play complementary football and we didn’t do that.”