Patriots Get Bizarre Update About Drake Maye’s Shoulder

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is facing growing questions about his throwing shoulder after a 1-2 start, even as people inside the organization insist the joint is healthy.

Maye finished second in Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player voting last season. He completed 72 percent of his passes for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions, posting a league-best 113.5 passer rating while taking the Patriots to Super Bowl LX.

This season has looked different. Through three games Maye is 51 of 80 for 585 yards, one touchdown and six interceptions. His passer rating has dropped to 58.6. Pro Football Focus graded him 35th among 36 qualified quarterbacks with a 41.2 overall mark.

New England lost 35-6 at Jacksonville on Sunday. Maye completed 14 of 25 passes for 199 yards with two interceptions, was sacked three times and lost a fumble. The Patriots scored only two field goals.

After the game, Maye was asked whether last season’s shoulder injury still affects him.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say there’s a problem with my shoulder. I think there’s times where I think you look back and you look back on the playoff run in that Denver game and when I took the hit and to now. I felt good during training camp and continue to let it loose,” Maye said.

He gave similar answers Monday on Boston radio, declining to say the arm feels identical to how it did before the injury and instead talking about playing at 100 percent when he is in uniform.

The original injury occurred in the AFC championship game last January. Denver safety Talanoa Hufanga tackled Maye at the end of a 13-yard scramble, driving the quarterback’s right shoulder into the turf. Maye later received a pain-killing injection before Super Bowl LX against Seattle. He said afterward he would not need offseason surgery and that rest would be enough.

Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal said Tuesday that team sources do not believe Maye is injured now.

“I don’t think it’s any injury,” Bedard said. “In fact, talking to people around the team, they are befuddled by the way he has talked about his shoulder. Because there is nothing wrong with his shoulder…Some people in the building think that this might be coming from…people around him. Whether that’s his family or his agent trying to bake in an excuse for his throwing.”

Boston Herald reporter Doug Kyed said he is not declaring the shoulder a current medical problem.

“I’m not sounding the alarm on Maye’s shoulder. I just think his non-answers are worth pointing out, because it would be a big deal if the starting QB still has a shoulder injury from eight months ago,” Kyed wrote. “And I do believe it’s notable one way or another that he’s not just simply saying, ‘no.’”

Coach Mike Vrabel said Monday he has no knowledge of a lingering issue that would put Maye on the injury report or require extra treatment. Vrabel described typical postgame soreness as part of playing quarterback in the NFL.

The Patriots rank 31st in scoring at 12.0 points per game. Their next opponent is the 3-0 Buffalo Bills on Sunday in Orchard Park.

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said he still believes in Maye as a player but is less sure about the combination with Vrabel.

“I have not lost confidence in Drake Maye because the guy that he lost to yesterday was him in 2024. Trevor Lawrence’s confidence was shot in 2024 after the start of his career,” Orlovsky said.

“Multiple coaches, the turnovers, the decisions, it was awful. And all of a sudden Liam Coen comes in, and it’s this rocket ship. Now Trevor is about as confident as anybody in the NFL at that position. So I have not lost confidence in Drake Maye. Am I losing confidence in Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel as a team, as a grouping, as a pairing of head coach and quarterback? I am. Let’s have a good football conversation.”

Maye is 24 and in his third NFL season after New England drafted him in the first round in 2024. The Patriots have not listed him on the injury report this week.