Drake Maye added another line to his young Patriots resume in Week 6, and this one nudged him past Tom Brady in a place few would have predicted: on the ground.
With New England’s 26-19 win over the New York Jets, Maye cleared Brady’s career rushing total with the Patriots. He came into the game needing just six rushing yards to move ahead, and he finished with 24, doing more than enough to pass the franchise legend in that category.
Maye’s latest step forward underscores how much his legs have become part of the story. Through the first six games of the 2026 season, he has rushed for 185 yards, continuing to give the Patriots a quarterback who can hurt defenses in more than one way. That has been a steady part of his growth in New England, where his mobility has repeatedly turned broken plays into positive ones.
The numbers from his first two seasons show the trend clearly. Maye topped 400 rushing yards in each of those years, including a career-high 450 last season.
That kind of production stands in sharp contrast to Brady’s Patriots tenure, where rushing was never the defining feature. Brady never had more than 110 rushing yards in a season with New England and went over 100 just three times.
Even so, passing Brady in any statistical category carries weight, because Brady remains the standard in Foxborough. His legacy was built on passing production, wins and six Super Bowl championships, plus a seventh with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Maye’s place in that conversation is nowhere near that level, but his rushing production gives New England something different to build around.
There is still another quarterback record hanging out there, too. Steve Grogan, who spent 16 seasons in New England, owns the franchise mark for rushing yards by a quarterback with 2,176.
For now, the Patriots are moving on with a 4-2 record and a short week ahead. Their next game comes on the road against the Chicago Bears, who are also 4-2, in a Thursday Night Football matchup in Week 7. It is another chance for Maye to keep stacking moments early in the 2026 season, both as a passer and as a runner.
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DeMario Douglas was already giving them exactly that against New York, pacing the team with seven catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. With the Patriots suddenly needing more from the passing game and less certainty about who will be available around him, Douglass workload now looks less like a useful bonus and more like a necessity. [Read more 🡒]
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A.J. Brown's Return Leaves Patriots Facing One Immediate Concern
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The immediate concern now is how quickly Brown can shake off the rust before the schedule turns again. He was targeted often enough to suggest the Patriots want him right back in the middle of things, but the next test comes quickly with a Thursday night matchup against the Bears, leaving little room for the offense to slowly ease him back in. [Read more 🡒]