Robert Spillane didn’t have much interest in letting Drake Maye carry the weight of the Patriots’ Week 1 loss by himself.
New England’s third-year quarterback took plenty of heat after a rough debut against the Seattle Seahawks, and for good reason. Maye threw three fourth-quarter interceptions in the 13-10 defeat, with the final pick ending any hope of sending the game to overtime. That kind of finish naturally puts the spotlight on the quarterback.
Spillane, though, wanted to make one thing clear: Maye doesn’t need to absorb all of it.
“Everyone’s interaction is different, everyone’s relationship is different. All I told him was, ‘Dude, stop taking all the f-king blame for it,” Spillane said on WEEI.
He doubled down on the same point right after that.
“This is a team game and he feels like he has to put all the pressure on his shoulders, but at the end of the day, this is a team game and we all support him and we know he’s gonna go out there this weekend and really knock your socks off,” Spillane added.
Spillane’s blunt message landed with extra force because he said it live on the radio, with the expletive catching the station off guard.
There is some truth to what Spillane is saying. A quarterback doesn’t lose a game alone, and the Patriots’ defense did its part in the opener. Still, when Maye turns in a performance like that one, it’s easy to understand why the blame starts to pile up on him.
And this isn’t the first time the conversation has gone this way. Maye’s poor Super Bowl showing also played a major role in New England coming up short, and his struggles have now stretched across two straight ugly outings. He didn’t exactly shine through last year’s playoffs, either, even as the Patriots wound up in the Super Bowl after getting a Bo Nix-less Denver Broncos team in the AFC title game.
The encouraging part for New England is that there’s still time for better football from Maye this regular season. But until he starts delivering in the biggest spots, the questions about his ability to win the big one are going to keep hanging around.
Maye and the Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on CBS and Paramount+.
In Other News...
Seahawks Head To Arizona With Two Big Questions Still Hanging
The Seahawks are heading to Arizona in a spot that already feels revealing, even after just one win. Their Week 1 victory over the Patriots gave them an early boost, but the deeper questions around how complete this team really is have not gone away, especially with a divisional road game next up. The numbers behind Seattle and the Cardinals point to two clubs trying to sort themselves out early, with DVOA and EPA showing enough strength in some areas to suggest this matchup could tell us more than the final score alone.
For Seattle, the intrigue is less about surviving the opener and more about whether the performance was a sign of something sustainable on offense and defense. Arizona brings its own set of metrics and season-long context into the game, and the contrast makes this a useful early test for both sides. The Seahawks leave Week 1 with momentum, but also with the kind of unfinished business that turns a simple September trip into a more meaningful measuring stick. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Free Agent Debuts Already Exposed An Early Depth Hierarchy
The Seahawks spent much of the offseason taking a measured approach, replacing departures mostly through the draft and a handful of veteran additions rather than chasing a full roster overhaul. That made the season opener a useful first look at how those new pieces would fit, and it was hard to miss which one immediately moved to the front of the line. Safety Rodney Thomas II logged 70 defensive snaps and made his presence felt with a key interception, a strong early sign that Seattle may have found a steady role for him right away.
The rest of the free-agent class did not make nearly the same kind of opening statement. Dante Fowler Jr. and Emanuel Wilson were among the newcomers who got on the field, but their debut impact was far quieter, which only sharpened the sense that the Seahawks already have a pretty clear early hierarchy among their additions. For a team that tried to patch several roster holes without turning the whole thing upside down, the first week offered a straightforward reminder that not every signing is going to carve out the same kind of role. [Read more 🡒]
Drew Lock Now Faces The Seahawks Test That Really Matters
Drew Locks first start of the 2023 season gave the Seahawks exactly the kind of steady relief they were hoping for after Sam Darnold went down in Week 1. In place of the injured starter, Lock threw for 187 yards and a touchdown and helped Seattle leave New England with a win, while head coach Mike Macdonald pointed to the backup quarterbacks professionalism and the way he handled the moment.
Now comes the part that matters most for Seattle. It is one thing to step in and manage a game in relief, and another to show the offense can keep functioning if the team has to lean on him longer than expected. Lock has already checked the first box, but the Seahawks still need to see whether he can carry that standard into the more demanding stretch ahead. [Read more 🡒]