Patriots Country

Patriots' Mike Vrabel Gets Brutally Honest on Drake Maye

New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel has offered a brutally honest assessment of Drake Maye from what he has seen so far this offseason.
Mar 13, 2025; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel discusses the teamís recent free agent additions with the media at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Mar 13, 2025; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel discusses the teamís recent free agent additions with the media at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

In this story:


New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has not looked incredibly impressive throughout organized team activities. He had a four-interception practice last week, and this week, Maye and the offense appeared a bit rough in general.

While it's probably too soon to sound alarm bells for Maye, head coach Mike Vrabel has indicated that he absolutely takes Maye's practice performances into account and wants to ensure that the young quarterback — and the entire offense — improves.

“Well, I care. I care about every player’s performance and that we continue to improve. There has been great improvement,” Vrabel said, via Mark Daniels of Mass Live. “Everybody’s going to have a bad day. There’s a lot of reasons that go into it. We’re not going to analyze every single practice and have explanations for things that came up. The command, the operation, all those things have continued to improve."

Maye enjoyed a very nice rookie campaign in 2024, throwing for 2,276 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 66.6 percent of his passes in 13 games and 12 starts. He also rushed for 421 yards and a couple of scores.

However, the former number three overall pick had some issues with ball security, fumbling nine times in addition to his double-digit picks.

It's important to remember that Maye is still just 22 years old, so growing pains are to be expected. Plus, last season, the University of North Carolina product did not exactly have a whole lot of help, as the Patriots had probably the worst receiving corps and the worst offensive line in the NFL.

New England made great strides to improve those two weak spots in free agency and the NFL Draft, but until we see definitive results on the field, questions will remain.

Make sure you bookmark New England Patriots on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns, and so much more!


Published
Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.