FOXBOROUGH, MA – On three distinct occasions through four weeks of the NFL season, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has gone for glory in the red zone.
During the Week 1 Super Bowl rematch against the Seattle Seahawks, he threw the game-ending interception, his third of the fourth quarter. Two weeks later on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he again forced a pass into the end zone looking for receiver Efton Chism that was intercepted by cornerback Travis Hunter with a minute left before halftime in a 14-3 game the Patriots lost 35-6.
The payoff finally came Week 4 in a 29-26 victory over the Buffalo Bills, as Maye this time connected with Chism for the go-ahead, 23-yard touchdown with 1:42 remaining.
“I’ve always had the mindset
to go win the game, go put my best foot forward and to want the ball at the end,” Maye said Wednesday, Oct. 7. “I’m going to stay having that mindset, and I like my chances in those circumstances. I feel like the more times I’m in those, the more confident you feel, and you feel like, ‘Man, this is a spot you want to be in.’”
That confidence and desire to have the ball in his hands can be traced back to one of the biographical facts many already know about Maye – he's the youngest of four boys, all of whom enjoyed their own athletic success.
“I think just us always talking smack, having something not go your way when you’re talking smack and still having to keep talking to my brothers, I think that’s just the mindset that I’ve had,” Maye said.
Luke Maye, who played basketball at the University of North Carolina where Drake Maye was later the starting quarterback for three seasons, would dunk on his little bro. Then it was the younger Maye’s turn.
“Then I’d have to go, ‘Now it’s my ball. I have to go do something with it.’ So, there are definitely times growing up where I felt like ‘I can’t just take my ball and go home.’ As my mom used to say, ‘Never take your ball and just go home,’” Maye recalled. “So, you just have to face it.”
Maye earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against Buffalo, as he completed 22 of 37 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns with one interception; he added eight rushing attempts for 54 yards in his most productive game of the season on the ground, too.
It was reminiscent of how he looked for most of his runner-up MVP campaign a year ago. But the hardware does not dilute the up-and-down nature of Maye’s first month of play following a subpar playoff showing despite the Patriots making it to Super Bowl 60.
Patriots vs. Raiders preview
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel commended Maye’s decision-making and toughness. But this, in addition to leading the football team, is the expectation and will once again be the standard when the Patriots host the Las Vegas Raiders (3-1) on Sunday, Oct. 11, at Gillette Stadium (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
“The defense is very opportunistic,” Vrabel said of the Raiders. “They hunt the football and they forced 10 fumbles, which is very impressive as a team.”
Continuing a disconcerting trend from the playoffs, Maye has struggled to hang onto the ball in the pocket and already has a league-high five fumbles (recovering three). His 4:7 touchdown-interception ratio entering Sunday and 62.4 completion percentage are not up to the standard Maye set in 2025. He said this season has taught him that playing well as the quarterback gives his team the best chance of ending up on the “right side” of the result.
“I wish I could try to point to something different, but no, I think it’s just a habit of getting confidence in the guys around us and around me,” Maye said when asked to explain the apparent righting of the ship against the Bills, a defense with a first-year coordinator. “I think we hit a little more, maybe we hit a few of the (plays) that I felt were there to be made. I think we’ve missed those the first few weeks, some opportunities for big plays, and I think we hit that.”
Maye’s opponents the first three weeks of the season were no cupcakes. The Jacksonville and Seattle defenses may be tops in the AFC and NFC, respectively. Pittsburgh’s pass-rushing capabilities are also among the league’s best.
Bouncing back is a must. It's “riding the rollercoaster,” Maye said.
“You have to,” the 24-year-old said. “I’m trying to keep the same mindset when things don’t go well, of ‘next week’ and trying to bounce back from it.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drake Maye's trash-talking brothers prepared him to overcome slow start to season
