Patriots' Mike Vrabel expands on leadership comments about Drake Maye

First-year New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel recently warned second-year quarterback Drake Maye that Maye "can't take days off" as it pertains to "leading this football team." 

On Wednesday, Vrabel expanded on what's expected of Maye heading into the upcoming season. 

"Well, it's not that it's lacking. I just -- I always want more," Vrabel said about Maye's leadership, as shared by Michael Hurley of NBC Boston. "I think I have to as a coach. I think that we always want to try to take a player, and we want to meet them where they're at and then be able to improve on that. So, there's no finished products, no matter what."

Vrabel and Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf first publicly challenged Maye to improve as a team leader long before training-camp practices got underway. In March, Vrabel noted that Maye should "invest time" to "get to know players [he] may not know right now," similar to how Tom Brady served as the CEO of the New England offense during his time with the organization. 

Maye subsequently hosted teammates for workouts held in his hometown ahead of training camp. 

"We always can continue to work on things, focus on our reaction, our response to things and how, as a quarterback or any player, you want it to be perfect," Vrabel added during his comments. "And it's never going to be perfect, and you can sit there and paralyze yourself sometimes by mistakes. We need to focus on our responses to those mistakes that are so critical. And there are so many snaps in the football game that -- it's just, there's certain things that can go up and down, and performance is one of them. And our attitude and our effort is something that can't."

Vrabel may or may not have been referencing how only three quarterbacks committed more turnovers than Maye (16) last season, according to StatMuse. For what it's worth, Vrabel's messages seem to be landing. 

"I think I want that. I want somebody to push me to do more for the team, have more of an impact with the guys around me," Maye said about Vrabel's remarks. "I feel like if I have that, and if I feel like I'm not showing it myself, then I need somebody to push me along."

Maye acknowledged that it would be "a great honor" to be named a team captain before New England opens the regular season with a home game versus the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 7. If he isn't, that could say plenty about how he's viewed as a leader by his teammates.