Before the season, Julian Edelman sat down with Patriots Wire for an exclusive interview, and when asked about Drake Maye, the New England Patriots legend spoke about what he hopes to see from the third-year quarterback in 2026.
Now, three games into the season, his answers are almost eerie as he basically predicted what was going to happen in a sense.
"I'm excited to see him take a step in being a professional quarterback," Edelman said on Sept. 9. "I want to see him in those adverse situations, when maybe we can't get a guy blocked for this game. How do we still be productive? How do we not turn the ball over? Those are the times I want to see him grow in. Because I mean, when we're running on all cylinders, he was second in MVP for a reason.
The guy can light it up. But the growth you want to see is when there's an adverse situation. One of our linemen's hurt. We're going against a guy we can't block. The defense is incredible. One of the receivers is maybe sick, has a helmet thing, and is out for a play."
Through the first three games, it's no secret that Maye has struggled immensely, having turned the ball over seven times, with six of those being interceptions. He's making uncharacteristically bad decisions, throwing the ball when he shouldn't be, and putting it in harm's way.
Maye seems like he's in his head, with his confidence having taken a hit. But he still has the support of his team as it's only been three games, and there's still plenty of football left to play.
"We got to be able to be productive and take care of the football every single time we're on that field," Edelman added. "And I think he's going to. He's still a baby. It was only his second year last year, and he was learning a whole new system. It'll be really fun to see the growth that he's had, having a whole year under his belt with Josh McDaniels and that scheme going into Year 2."
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Julian Edelman predicted Drake Maye’s biggest 2026 challenge
