{"id":1013387,"date":"2026-09-28T22:48:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T22:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1013387\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T22:48:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T22:48:24","slug":"drake-mayes-struggles-hovering-over-patriots-slow-start-with-division-opener-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1013387\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake Maye’s struggles hovering over Patriots’ slow start with division opener next"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jacksonville<\/p>\n

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Davon Hamilton (52) tackles New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) in the first half during an NFL football game in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

Mike Stewart\/AP Photo\/Mike Stewart\"New<\/p>\n

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) speaks in a press conference after an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

Mike Stewart\/AP Photo\/Mike Stewart\"Jacksonville<\/p>\n

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Bryan Thomas Jr. (57) sacks New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) in the second half during an NFL football game in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

Phelan M. Ebenhack\/AP Photo\/Phelan M. Ebenhack\"New<\/p>\n

New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins (13) makes a catch against Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones (4) in the second half during an NFL football game in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

Mike Stewart\/AP Photo\/Mike Stewart\"New<\/p>\n

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) runs against Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Davon Hamilton (52) in the first half during an NFL football game in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

Mike Stewart\/AP Photo\/Mike Stewart<\/p>\n

Drake Maye wasn\u2019t one of the things the Patriots anticipated having to worry about entering this season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the third-year quarterback is at the top of the list.<\/p>\n

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After beginning the season with two games of uneven play, Maye\u2019s struggles found a new floor in the Patriots\u2019 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.<\/p>\n

He went without a touchdown pass for the second straight game, while completing a season-low 56% (14 of 25) of his throws, tossing two interceptions and losing one of his two fumbles on the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to look myself in the mirror and take this as a turning point,\u201d Maye said. \u201cIt\u2019s Week 3, and at the same time we\u2019ve got to get some fuel and realize that what we\u2019re doing out there offensively is unacceptable. It\u2019s been unacceptable for three weeks. So, I\u2019ve got to start with myself and then lead these guys, and we\u2019ve got to get back after it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maye\u2019s six interceptions are the most by a Patriots quarterback through three games since Drew Bledsoe (eight) in his second NFL season in 1994. Maye had only eight in all of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

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What\u2019s worse, Maye seems unsure of himself when he drops back to pass. He has tried to force the ball to well-covered wide receivers at times, while badly overthrowing receivers in other instances. Turning the page on those miscues also has been a problem, he acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s beating myself and realizing that there\u2019s times last year where you gotta flip to the next play and realize that this league will humble you quick and just finding ways for me to step up when I feel like I\u2019m not playing my best and still lead the team,\u201d Maye said. \u201cI think that\u2019s what this position is about.”<\/p>\n

One of the things that got a lot of attention Sunday was a moment in the third quarter<\/a> between Maye and coach Mike Vrabel on the sideline. Vrabel stood in front of his visibly downtrodden quarterback and placed both hands on his shoulders while speaking to him for an extended period.<\/p>\n

Vrabel believes part of helping get Maye out of this funk is reminding him that Maye still has room to grow.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI try to talk to him about, just taking the ball and putting it where it\u2019s supposed to go. And he\u2019s 24 years old. Like we\u2019re not dealing with a 35-year-old quarterback here,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cHe\u2019s a young quarterback. I want him to go and be energetic and talk to him about, just, can\u2019t be a robot here. We\u2019ve got to go. And you saw sometimes where he extended plays and kept his eyes downfield and made plays, and then also we just can\u2019t turn it over the rate that we\u2019re turning it over, especially down in the red zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s working<\/p>\n

Despite their inability to put the ball in the end zone, the Patriots’ ability to move the ball beyond the 50-yard line on seven drives shows that the offense can sustain drives.<\/p>\n

What needs help<\/p>\n

Moving the ball is one thing, but the results of those possessions showed just how dismal a day it was. In order, New England\u2019s drives that advanced to Jacksonville territory resulted in a punt, fumble, field goal, interception, missed field goal, field goal and turnover on downs. That feeds into what the overall story is on offense.<\/p>\n

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The Patriots have scored only 29 points in 30 drives this season. That\u2019s the fewest points per drive (0.97) by any team through three games since the 2021 New York Jets.<\/p>\n

Stock up<\/p>\n

Cornerback Marcus Jones provided one of the few bright spots on defense, picking off Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. It was Jones\u2019 seventh career interception.<\/p>\n

Stock down<\/p>\n

Mack Hollins. With the Patriots trailing 28-3 in the fourth quarter and facing third-and-10 on the Jacksonville 16, Maye completed a 9-yard pass to Hollins for what would have been a first down at the 7. Instead, Hollins\u2019 celebration after the catch drew a 15-yard taunting penalty.<\/p>\n

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It forced the Patriots to settle for Andy Borregales’ 40-yard field goal.<\/p>\n

Injuries<\/p>\n

Right guard Greg Van Roten left in the first half with a thigh injury and did not return. Defensive tackle Christian Barmore (shoulder) and cornerback Carlton Davis III also missed snaps but returned.<\/p>\n

Key number<\/p>\n

19 \u2014 The number of fumbles (nine) and interceptions (10) Maye has had since the start of last season\u2019s playoffs \u2014 a total of seven games. He\u2019s the first player with nine or more fumbles and 10 or more interceptions in a seven-game span since Jameis Winston did it in 2019 during his 30- touchdown, 30-interception season.<\/p>\n

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Next steps<\/p>\n

The Patriots stay on the road, travelling to Buffalo for their AFC East opener on Sunday.<\/p>\n

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See AP\u2019s full NFL coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Davon Hamilton (52) tackles New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) in the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1013388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2060],"tags":[32950,31300,7888,833,12200,7,6643,212,125,2401,213,1801,9228,7885,838,6,83966,27878,132509,27876,83964,116402,314],"class_list":["post-1013387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-andy-borregales","tag-carlton-davis-iii","tag-christian-barmore","tag-drake-maye","tag-drew-bledsoe","tag-football","tag-greg-van-roten","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-jacksonvillejaguars","tag-jaguars","tag-jameis-winston","tag-mack-hollins","tag-marcus-jones","tag-mike-vrabel","tag-nfl","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-patriots-analysis-drake-maye-struggles","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-33351-ap-online-analysis","tag-product-40791-ap-massachusetts-sports-only","tag-trevor-lawrence"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1013387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1013388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1013387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1013387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1013387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}