Patriots' Drake Maye Conspicuously Absent from Super Bowl Practice

Speculation surrounding his injury status began to swirl less than 24 hours removed from the Patriots’ conference title victory over the Broncos. Sports physician Dr. David Chao, per a recent media appearance, believes that the Pats’ QB injured his throwing shoulder in the third quarter, prior to the flea-flicker pass play to Mack Hollins. Chao notes that Maye was slow to get up after being hit, while also demonstrating signs of discomfort when tapped on his shoulder pads in congratulations from his wife, Ann Michael Maye. 

Maye finished the game without missing any time, and did not look particularly bothered by his shoulder or any other injuries during and after the contest. He completed his longest pass of the day, a 31-yarder to Hollins, two plays after the scramble in question and was quick to pop up again following a sack in the fourth quarter that saw him land on that very same right shoulder.

Drake Maye’s Status for Super Bowl LX Does Not Appear to be in Doubt

Despite their previous attempts to quell the concern surrounding a potential injury to Maye’s throwing shoulder, head coach Mike Vrabel, as well as Maye himself, once again made their best effort to put the issue to rest. Though Maye did not make any throwing attempts during the portion of practice open to the media, the 23-year-old did confirm that he felt no negative effects from his limited participation.

“I feel good,” Maye said via live broadcast on Patriots.com. “I was able to do some of the jog through so feeling good. Looking forward to being ready to go. This is the game you dream of playing in so looking forward to getting out there and getting a chance to play in the Super Bowl….

"I'll do whatever I can to, you know, feel 100% and I'm sure I'll get if not there as close as I can or 99 (%) or do whatever I can to make sure, I'm throwing,” he added

Earlier in the day, Vrabel also appeared to be unfazed by Maye’s status when speaking with reporters at Gillette Stadium. In fact, he confirmed his level of concern regarding the health of his starting quarterback when asked directly about it. 

“Not much, I try not to have a whole lot of concern,” Vrabel said. “I just want to try to prepare the football team, make sure that everybody's ready, that we all have a plan, not to surprise anybody and make sure that our guys are focusing on the first and second down plan. We've tried to map out the week here, week and a half, and not look at the end of it, but focus on what we can do today. Try to learn our opponent and be ready for first and second down.”

Though the Pats appear to be proceeding with caution, Maye’s status is unlikely to be in doubt. With a victory, the Patriots will have earned an NFL record seventh Lombardi trophy — a feat at which they would almost certainly fail to achieve without Maye’s services.