Patriots' Drake Maye continues to make previous leadership criticisms seem laughable

Heading into the start of the 2026 season, it's almost difficult to believe that some members of the NFL community suggested roughly 12 months ago that New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye hadn't "fully accepted" all that it meant to serve as the undisputed leader of his offense. 

Wide receiver A.J. Brown joined the Patriots after they acquired him from the Philadelphia Eagles in early June. As Nicole Yang of the Boston Globe shared in a piece published on Friday, Maye impressed Brown throughout the first couple of months of their working relationship. 

A.J. Brown: Drake Maye is "an incredible leader"

"It’s crazy to see at a young age," Brown recently said about Maye. "He’s like, 'Come on, I need you,' all the time. He’s pushing all of us. He’s an incredible leader. I’ve been bragging on him. When he speaks, a lot of guys, you know, they’re locked in. That’s very special. To be so young and to have the attention of the room. He knows the offense, he knows the defense, so he’s just demanding greatness. Because he knows what everyone has, so you better know."

The Patriots hired head coach Mike Vrabel shortly after Maye's rookie season wrapped up. In the spring of 2025, Vrabel and Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf publicly made it known that they wanted Maye to grow as a leader and as the CEO of the New England offense. 

Maye ultimately proved to be all that Vrabel could have asked for and more, as the 2024 first-round draft pick guided the club to what became a Super Bowl LX loss to the Seattle Seahawks en route to finishing second in 2025 MVP voting behind Los Angeles Rams star Matthew Stafford.

Throughout 2026, Maye has repeatedly discussed how the Super Bowl defeat was a "humbling" experience that he endured because he and the offense didn't put enough "points on the board." As Yang noted, Maye was often spotted speaking with "his teammates first" between practice reps this summer, compared to how he "would immediately touch base with the coaching staff" between reps a year ago. 

Drake Maye ready to take Patriots to "a different level" after Super Bowl journey

"I think it’s natural when you’re in the second year of an offense, and you feel like you know what you are talking about, and you put a year on tape where you feel like you did some good things and knew what you were doing most of the time," Maye said about his overall growth. "I think there’s areas for me to take the guys on offense, especially, and bring them to a different level and elevate their game, elevate my game, and kind of bleed that into the defense and the whole team."

During springtime workouts, Maye acknowledged that opening the season with a Super Bowl rematch at the Seahawks on Sept. 9 was "a chance for us to get some extra motivation during training camp." Now that camp's done, he seems ready to take the next step in his development. 

"I’m not taking for granted my responsibility for this team — the power and the natural respect you get for playing my position," Maye recently said.