The New England Patriots are 1-2 to start the season following a 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. At the center of that loss were the continued struggles of third-year quarterback Drake Maye.
In leading the Patriots on a Super Bowl run in which he finished runner-up in the MVP race, the 24-year-old quarterback not only looked like the future of the franchise, but also like a future top-five quarterback in the entire NFL.
So, what happened?
While Maye naysayers will point to an easy schedule as part of his success, a more plausible reason for the regression is that NFL defenses have adjusted to him. He has faced tougher defenses and is now at a stage of his young career where he must adjust, learn from the mistakes that have piled up over his past seven games, including the Super Bowl, and get out of his own head.
It sounds simple, but this is the type of adversity that can define the next stage of a young quarterback's career.
After another poor showing in the Week 3 loss to Jacksonville, Maye is saying the right things. But what will it take for him to completely turn his struggles around and get back to the level he was playing at when Patriots Nation was celebrating the possibility that their team drafted the best quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft class?
Drake Maye may need to stop searching for the big play
The coaches and his teammates have faith in him. What is necessary now is for Maye to have that same faith in himself and trust what he is seeing on the field.
Most importantly, he must let the game come to him and, at times, settle for the right play instead of searching for the big play.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, who was seen encouraging his young quarterback on the sideline, used golf as an analogy for what could be going through Maye's head when it comes to decision-making.
“I think quarterbacks want to make plays. I think they want to throw touchdowns,” Vrabel said during his weekly appearance on the Greg Hill Show on WEEI. “I think sometimes when Greg and I go golfing, we really want to make a good score, right? Sometimes we’re so focused on it that we try to choke the life out of the golf club, and we’re squeezing it so damn tight that the ball has no choice but to go sideways. We need to stop trying to choke the life out of every single play. We need to relax. We need to settle in and go play football and not try to force things that aren’t there.”
Patience is an element of growth for a young NFL quarterback, both from the player and the system he is playing in. If Maye needs motivation or inspiration, he can look at the quarterback standing on the other sideline during a big Week 4 test in the AFC East.
Josh Allen's path offers Drake Maye a lesson in patience
Selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Josh Allen faced accuracy and mechanical struggles through his first two seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He commonly made poor decisions, much like Maye is making now, and still makes some of those head-scratching decisions even after developing into one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.
The difference is the Bills stayed patient with Allen and surrounded him with offensive players who complemented his strengths.
That patience is important because, to learn and grow as a quarterback, Allen had to face those challenges. He had to make mistakes before he could learn how to overcome them.
With Maye, the timeline is different.
He led his team to the Super Bowl in his first full season as a starter. That immediately shifted his early-career expectations to another level. Now, while dealing with some of the struggles young quarterbacks typically face, he is doing it under a much brighter spotlight.
Was Drake Maye successful too soon?
Potentially, but like Allen, he has an opportunity to put those struggles behind him and find the answers to the test defenses are giving him.
Tom Brady, in all his greatness, had games and stretches where he threw multiple interceptions. What set him apart, and what sets Allen apart now, is resilience.
The passion to bounce back from bad performances. The ability to shut out the outside noise and turn it into motivation.
For Maye, that is the next step.
Turn that motivation into elevation and prove that this rough stretch isn't the beginning of a regression, but another stage in his evolution as the Patriots' franchise quarterback.
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