Drake Maye’s early-season wobble is looking more and more like a short detour, and Rob Gronkowski is back on the bandwagon.
The New England Patriots opened the year looking flat through their first three games, and Maye was right in the middle of it. He was slow to trust what he was seeing, held the ball too long, and made mistakes that didn’t look like him. The source of that rough patch, according to the reporting, was still lingering frustration after the Super Bowl loss.
That’s why Gronkowski, who had already told Maye earlier in the season to take a deep breath and get out of his own head, is now praising the turnaround. In an exclusive interview with Heavy, the former Super Bowl champion said:
“I think this is the Drake Maye that is here to stay. It’s the one that we just saw over the last 2 weeks.
He’s playing at a high level once again: he can decipher defenses, he’s getting the ball to the open receiver or running back out of the backfield,” Gronk said. “I think those 2-3 weeks; that fluke just happens and it just shows his mental toughness to get out of that.”
Over the last five weeks, Maye has helped push the Patriots to a 4-1 record, with two divisional wins mixed in. In that stretch, he has thrown for 1,389 yards, 14 touchdowns, and just a couple of interceptions, while posting a 122.2 passer rating.
What makes that run stand out even more is the context around it. Maye has done it without Mack Hollins, A.J. Brown, and Romeo Doubs, while also dealing with a makeshift offensive line and a long list of injuries around the roster.
The early criticism came fast when New England dropped to 1-2, and social media was full of cheap jokes about the schedule. But that noise has quieted down over the past month.
For Gronkowski, the point is simple: he wasn’t burying Maye when things were off, and now he’s giving him credit for getting through it. The Patriots still have work ahead, but with Maye trending up and the team expected to be healthier in the second half, the conversation around him looks a lot different than it did a few weeks ago.
In Other News...
Patriots Special Teams Reset Is Becoming A Bigger Story Than Expected
The Patriots have spent much of 2026 reworking a special teams group that looks noticeably different from the one they carried into last season. Several core contributors from 2025 are gone, and the unit has been rebuilt around younger pieces such as rookies Namdi Obiazor and Erick Hunter, waiver claim Darius Muasau and tight end Cam Latu, giving New England a very different mix of bodies and experience on the kicking game.
So far, the transition has mostly held together. The group has avoided giving up a touchdown, but there have been some issues in kick coverage, which has kept the attention on a phase that usually flies under the radar unless something goes wrong. For the Patriots, the bigger picture is still about developing a young special teams roster while trying to keep the operation steady enough to avoid the kind of hidden-yardage problems that can swing a game. [Read more 🡒]
Belichicks Hall Of Fame Push Just Got Real For Patriots Fans
Bill Belichicks Hall of Fame case is moving into a more serious stage, and for Patriots fans, it is the kind of development that brings his legacy back into focus. The former New England coach is among five coaching candidates nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2027, a group that also includes Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Dan Reeves and Mike Shanahan.
The Halls coaching subcommittee trimmed the field from a larger pool before settling on this group, and only one coach will ultimately make the final class. The Class of 2027 will be announced in February and enshrined in August in Canton, Ohio, leaving Belichicks place in that conversation very much alive as the selection process moves toward its next step. [Read more 🡒]
DeMario Douglas Is Making Patriots Free Agency Much Harder
DeMario Douglas has quietly turned a late-season opportunity into a real case for the Patriots to think harder about their future at receiver. With injuries thinning out the position, Douglas has been asked to do more, and he has responded with a level of production and reliability that makes him stand out on a roster still searching for answers in the passing game.
The timing only adds to the intrigue because Douglas is headed for unrestricted free agency after the season. For a team that needs dependable pass-catchers and has watched its receiving room get stretched thin, his recent surge is the kind of development that can complicate everything from roster planning to contract talks, especially if this version of Douglas proves to be the one New England is getting going forward. [Read more 🡒]