Drake Maye had a forgettable regular season opener, tossing three interceptions in his final three possessions to seal a 13-10 New England Patriots loss to the Seattle Seahawks. However, there is no time to dwell on those mistakes: Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers awaits.
And for Maye, it will be an opportunity to bounce back against a team that qualified for the playoffs in 2025. So, how is he planning on doing that? By bringing the proper mindset to the preparation.
“We’re on to Pittsburgh.
We have another week and another chance in this league. That’s dealing with the ups and downs in this league. That’s part of playing in the National Football League,” Maye said during an appearance on WEEI earlier this week.
“It’s just part of being an athlete at a professional level. My brothers and my dad played sports in college and have done things, and you have teammates — that’s what we have teammates for and coaches. They’ve experienced it. And at this capacity it’s just different when you’re playing this position at quarterback. Your mistakes and what you do with the football is at a more drastic level because your decisions change the outcomes of games. Just realizing that and and also realizing that you got to go back out there and and have a next-play mentality.”
Maye started the Patriots’ season opener fairly well, executing the take-what-the-opponent-gives-you game plan and helping his team head into the fourth quarter up 10-3. However, things fell apart from that point on.
By his own admission, the third-year quarterback “lost patience” and ended up costing his game a possible victory and 1-0 start to the season. Against Pittsburgh, a similar outcome would put the reigning AFC champions under quite a bit of pressure already at this early stage in the season.
Maye, however, is not letting that outlook impact his work leading up to Week 2.
“He’s a guy who has a lot of confidence,” said left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, who himself had a challenging first game. “We pat him on the back. We got him. We’re always riding for him, but he’s the type of guy who doesn’t really need that. He’s able to fix things on his own and come ready to work the next week.”
“He’s been great,” added tight end Hunter Henry. “He sometimes takes too much of the burden. I think we all can be better. We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror. Obviously, we can’t turn the ball over, and he knows that. But, maybe if we finish a little longer, we run better routes, we block a little better, protect a little better, some of those things don’t come into play. We all have to be better. It’s not on just one guy. This is a complete team sport and that’s the beauty of football. Excited to go out there and compete with him again this weekend.”
