Drake Maye’s early-season slump has turned into something bigger than bad numbers for the Patriots. What started as a rough stretch for the quarterback has now spilled into questions about his shoulder, his messaging, and whether everyone around the team is even on the same page.
Maye has opened the year with six interceptions and only one touchdown, a sharp falloff from the kind of season that put him in the MVP conversation and helped carry New England on a surprising run to the Super Bowl. The Patriots are 1-2, and with Buffalo on deck Sunday, the trip to face the Bills is starting to look like a must-win if they’re going to stay in the AFC East hunt.
The shoulder issue at the center of this is the lingering problem from the playoffs, and Maye hasn’t exactly shut the door on the idea that it still matters. He’s been careful, even evasive, when asked about his health.
Patriots QB Drake Maye continued to be evasive when asked on @richkented about lingering effects from last postseason’s shoulder injury.
Q: When you said that you don’t believe there’s a problem with your shoulder, are you saying your right shoulder and throwing arm feel 100%…
Those answers have the feel of a player who knows how the media game works and doesn’t want “not 100 percent” becoming a built-in excuse. But the questions haven’t gone away, and according to one report, they’re not just coming from outside the building.
Greg Bedard said on his latest podcast that people around the Patriots are puzzled by the way Maye has handled the subject.
“Talking to people around the team they are befuddled by the way that he has talked about his shoulder because there is nothing wrong with his shoulder,” the veteran reporter said. “He’s not getting any treatment on his shoulder.”
Bedard also said some people in the organization think the framing may be coming from Maye’s agent or family as a way to bake in an excuse for his throwing.
Whatever the source of the confusion, the bigger picture is hard to ignore. Maye doesn’t look like the same quarterback from last season, and that’s a real problem for New England. The story around his shoulder has only made the situation messier, and it doesn’t sound like this is a locker room or an organization moving in perfect lockstep.
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