Patriots' QB Believes Early Issues Are Fixable

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is not one to dwell on the past.

Despite playing a notable role in his team’s sloppy, demoralizing loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3, the Pats’ third overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft believes that the problems currelty plaguing his team are fixable. In fact, he believes it can be corrected in relatively short order.

In short, New England’s metaphorical “road to redemption” begins with protecting the football.

“Not beating ourselves. That's the big thing … it's turnovers,” Maye told reporters at Gillette Stadium this week. “Turnovers in this league are such a big deal. It's one of those things that we can clean up. Holding onto the football, me holding on in the pocket and the running backs is something that I do think is fixable."

“It’s something that you try to overemphasize, and usually when you overemphasize things, you fix it,” he continued. "Something throughout the week is just trying to do the extra little things to protect it, and me in the pocket, ensure there’s two hands on it and just know when the play is over.”

Maye completed 28-of-37 for 268 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the 21-17 loss to the the Steelers last weekend. He also ran the ball seven times for 45 yards in the losing effort. While Maye’s late second-quarter interception and fourth-quarter fumble may place a pall over his overall performance, the Pats’ third overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft turned in a statistically sound outing in Week 3. In spite of New England’s struggles with turnovers, Maye kept New England in position to potentially win the game.

Though it may not have been enough to snatch victory from defeat against Pittsburgh, the 23-year-old Pats starter knows that the team’s skill set is capable of turning such losses into wins.

“I just try to push the guys to get to that level,” Maye said. “I know what we can do, and I still feel like we haven't played our best football … I think once we do, we talk about stringing some plays together in a practice or stringing a drive together. You see glimpses of it, but that's the challenging part of this league.”

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) hands the ball off to New England Patriots running back Antonio Gibson. — Sep 21, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) hands the ball off to New England Patriots running back Antonio Gibson (4) during the second quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

To Maye’s point, New England had their chances to put the Steelers on their heels in Week 3. Unfortunately, their inability to secure the football in several key situations would doom the Pats attempt to earn their second win in as many weeks. In addition to being whistled for seven penalties for 54 yards, the most disturbing stat for the Patriots in Week 3 was committing five turnovers — one interception to close the first-half and four fumbles — one from Maye, another through the hands of running back Antonio Gibson and two from starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson. As a result, the Patriots became the first team with multiple turnovers inside their opponent's five-yard line since the Philadelphia Eagles in their Week 8 matchup against the Washington Commanders in 2023.

Still, Maye remains convinced that his leadership and encouragement can be a catalyst for the Patriots’ return to respectability, and even prominence in the not-so-distant future — perhaps as soon as this weekend’s Week 4 matchup against the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium.

“That’s the fun part about it,” Maye proclaimed. “Getting to that level and hoping to get to that level when the games matter, really matter, and trying to get a push to the postseason or things like that. So, that's what we're trying to build toward and just keep going at it every week.”

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