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New England Patriots QB Drake Maye
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye unintentionally stirred up some controversy with a confession he made after the team’s 29-13 Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
The 23-year-old signal-caller admitted to reporters that he had to get a painkiller injection from a doctor prior to the game.
“My shoulder feels…they shot it up, so not much feeling,” Maye disclosed. “It was good to go, and felt alright.”
Maye’s admission had many asking if the Patriots could face punishment from the NFL for hiding the severity of Maye’s injury heading into the biggest game of the year.
Polarizing Analyst Calls for NFL Discipline
GettyNew England Patriots QB Drake Maye
The NFL made an example out of the Ravens earlier this season for incorrectly reporting QB Lamar Jackson’s injury designation.
Baltimore was fined $100,000 for violating the league’s injury report policy when they incorrectly listed his practice status on their injury report.
The Patriots could be subject to similar punishment if the league determines they’re guilty of any wrongdoing, and FS1’s Nick Wright believes they should have some form of penalty — be it a fine or loss of draft pick — coming their way.
“At this point, the NFL has no choice but to put some type of punishment on the Patriots for their Super Bowl injury report,” Wright said. “If we are at Wednesday, and the number one story is the quarterback’s injury, the quarterback said, ‘I had the shoulder shot up,’ that he was dealing with something.
“And especially in the modern NFL world, where gambling is legal if not encouraged, it is the quarterback of a Super Bowl that I know no way to read it other than the team … fudged information on the final injury report leading into the Super Bowl. I think the NFL is obligated, whether it’s taking picks … they have to do something.”
Patriots May Have Loophole to Avoid Punishment
Former NFL team doctor David J. Chao took to social media to explain why the Patriots may avoid being penalized by the league based on a technicality.
“The Patriots did everything appropriately in their reporting of Drake Maye,” Chao said. “I get how some people can get upset — ‘Well, if he needed a painkilling injection, why wasn’t he on the injury report’ and the team is lying, and this that and the other. No, the team followed the rules. He was on the injury report…he was listed as questionable for the game.
“No injury designation for the game in terms of status, meaning he was 100% playing. But he was still on the injury report — right shoulder, FP, FP, FP. He did not come off the injury report.
“A team is required to give an honest estimation of the chances of play. … They had him on there as nothing, meaning he’s 100% playing. He played — there’s no shenanigans there. They were confident he was playing with or without injections. It doesn’t matter, they don’t need to state that. As long as you’re confident and there’s no doubt he’s playing with or without an injection, that’s OK.”
Michael Gallagher Michael Gallagher is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. He has more than a decade of experience working for both local and national news outlets covering the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, college football, and MMA. His work has been featured in Newsweek, Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Athlon Sports, The Hockey News, the Nashville Scene, SB Nation, and Yardbarker. More about Michael Gallagher
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