Patriots' Mike Vrabel has one Drake Maye hope for Bears game amid QB's season turnaround

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye received criticism from numerous members of the NFL community after he was guilty of some questionable in-game decisions over the opening three weeks of the season.

However, Maye has since helped the club earn three straight wins to improve to 4-2. While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about Maye's improved decision-making ahead of the club's game at the 4-2 Chicago Bears this coming Thursday night. 

Mike Vrabel taking Drake Maye's season one game at a time

"I hope he makes great decisions Thursday night," Vrabel said about Maye, per Mark Daniels of MassLive. "That's the most important thing."

Some openly wondered if Maye could and even should be benched after he tossed one touchdown pass and six interceptions across the season's first three weeks. Over New England's following three games, however, Maye tallied 10 touchdown passes with just a single pick. 

According to Pro Football Reference, Maye heads into the Chicago game ranked fourth in the NFL among qualified players with a 77.3 adjusted QBR for the entire campaign. 

Drake Maye is now focused on making "the right play instead of kind of the big play"

"I think just get back to trusting the guys around us, trusting myself, trust what I'm seeing and just get back to finding a groove early in the game," Maye said about getting past his early season struggles. "And I kind of mentioned earlier in the season of wanting to make a play so bad and really just kind of letting the game come to you. I think that's one of the biggest things I've tried to focus on. You want to make the right play instead of kind of the big play. And I've tried to really own that and get us in the right plays and try to protect the football, and realizing that was really the main thing."

As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Patriots as three-point road underdogs against the Bears. If Maye can avoid making costly mistakes over the contest's first three quarters, he could have the Patriots a big play or two away from earning an upset win at Chicago's Soldier Field. 

"We were moving the ball and just finding ways to hurt ourselves and couldn't get, you know, myself speaking, couldn't get, like I said, out of my own way and just trying to get back through that and knowing the guys that we have and the players that we have and the player that I am to get back out there and get things going," Maye added about what has gone right for the Patriots since the end of Week 3. 

Thursday's matchup could prove to be a Super Bowl LXI preview if both the Patriots and the Bears can reach their advertised ceilings over the next few months. If nothing else, Maye and Bears quarterback Caleb Williams could produce an entertaining shootout in front of a prime-time television audience on Thursday.