A year after finishing second in the NFL MVP voting, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye won’t have to worry about nearly missing out on the award in 2026.
Through three games of the the third season his career, Maye has regressed. Badly.
Last year, he had 31 touchdown passes and eight interceptions. This year, he has one touchdown pass and six interceptions. His passer rating has plummeted from 113.5 to 58.6.
Sunday’s 35-6 disaster in Duval included three turnovers and no touchdowns.
Appearing Monday on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show, coach Mike Vrabel was asked about Maye’s obvious issues with decision-making.
“I think quarterbacks want to make plays,” Vrabel said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “I think they want to throw touchdowns. I think sometimes when Greg and I go golfing, we really want to make a good score, right? Sometimes we’re so focused on it, we try to choke the life out of the golf club, and we’re squeezing it so damn tight that the ball has no choice but to go sideways. We need to stop trying to choke the life out of every single play. We need to relax. We need to settle in and go play football and not try to force things that aren’t there.”
It seems at this point to be more than bad decisions. Simms explained on Monday’s PFT Live that Maye has developed mechanical flaws, including a flicking of the wrist before the makes his throws. Also, Simms believes Maye is trying too hard to guide his throws, in lieu of letting it rip.
If the Patriots agree with the assessment, it won’t be easy to coach these things out of Maye during football season, when there’s a fresh train always heading down the tracks. And the next stop is Buffalo.
Last year in Week 5, Maye led the Patriots to a win in their final game at the Bills’ old stadium. This year in Week 4, Maye has a chance to reverse a troubling trend that has become a full-blown narrative.
