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Drake Maye Is Owning Up To His Lackluster Play
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Drake Maye was really, really good in 2025. He’s been the opposite of that in 2026.

The New England Patriots dropped to 1-2 on the season on Sunday, falling to the Jaguars. New England’s star quarterback threw two interceptions in the game. He’s now thrown for six interceptions on the season.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is admitting that his quarterback needs to be much, much better. Vrabel said postgame that his concern level is “very” high.

“I try to talk to him about taking the ball and putting it where it’s supposed to go. . . . I think he knows what to do,” Vrabel said postgame. “I think we have to do it better. We all want to make plays, we just have to make good ones. And if it’s not there, we have to make a great decision. I think sometimes you can want it too badly, but we can’t force anything”


Sep 9, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) throws during the third quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn ImagesJoe Nicholson-Imagn Images.

Vrabel knows that Maye needs to take care of the football.

“We have to take care of the football,” Vrabel added. “We can’t, we can’t force things … I think he knows what to do. You know what I mean? I think we have to do it better, you know?

“And again, we all want to make plays. We just have to make them good ones. And, if it’s not there, we got to make a great decision.”

Maye is owning up to his poor play

Maye knows that he needs to be much better, too.

“The ball stars rolling like that, we can’t get out our own way,” Maye said postgame. “I can’t get out of my own way personally.

“So, I got to look myself in the mirror and take this as a turning point. You know, it’s Week 3. We got to, you have some fuel and realize that what we’re doing out there offensively is unacceptable – unacceptable for three weeks.”

Things won’t get much easier for the Patriots moving forward, though, as they have the Bills in Week 4.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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