Patriots' Mike Vrabel challenges Drake Maye amid turnover concerns ahead of AFC Championship vs. Broncos

Second-year New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye could soon be named the Most Valuable Player for the 2025 regular season, and he has his club one win over the Denver Broncos in this coming Sunday's AFC Championship Game away from playing in Super Bowl LX. 

That said, Maye has become the subject of some ball-security concerns since the start of the ongoing postseason tournament. While speaking with reporters on Thursday, first-year Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel shared what he expects to see from Maye in Denver.

Mike Vrabel wants Drake Maye to be Patriots' "conductor" vs. Broncos

"Lead our offense," Vrabel challenged Maye, per Chris Mason of MassLive. "Be the conductor. Help us handle the environment. Find as many positive plays as you can. Take care of the football. Own the operation. Then you’re going to have to make some big-time throws. That’s just kind of how this thing goes."

Maye certainly was responsible for some big-time throws over New England's first two postseason wins. That said, he lost three of six fumbles and tossed two interceptions over those outings. 

According to ESPN stats, Maye took more sacks (10) than any other quarterback over the first two weeks of the playoffs. The StatMuse website shows that the Broncos led the NFL for the 2025 regular season with 68 sacks. 

"When you get sacked a bunch, the ball is going to come out," one unnamed NFL team executive said about the upcoming AFC title clash during a chat with Jeff Howe of The Athletic. "That’s going to be Denver’s formula all week, and that’s what the Patriots will combat. I’d expect to see a lot of running the ball and the screen game early."

Drake Maye has thus far brushed off "not-so-positive plays"

Patriots players have made it known they're not making Super Bowl travel plans for their families simply because Broncos backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham will be starting in place of injured QB1 Bo Nix this Sunday. Meanwhile, Vrabel wants Maye to be who the 23-year-old was throughout the regular season. 

"No different than what we’ve expected of him the entire season and how he’s produced," Vrabel added during his comments about Maye. "It’s great to see some not-so-positive plays that don’t affect some things that have to happen later in the game for us to succeed."

As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook continued to list the Patriots as 4.5-point road favorites over the Broncos.