ORCHARD PARK, NY — Cleats untied, grass stains on his leggings, in his aw-shucks southern drawl, Drake Maye clutched the podium with both hands and allowed himself to exhale and call this victory “relieving.”
This was not the disoriented quarterback that required midgame moments of soul searching with his head coach. Nor was this the quarterback choking back tears in Santa Clara, Calif., after a Super Bowl LX loss to Seattle.
The 24-year-old leader of these New England Patriots — the guy who lost the MVP award by the slimmest margin ever — was filled with a different emotion on Sunday evening: joy. At one point during Maye’s postgame presser following a 29-26 win over the Buffalo Bills, gregarious ex-Patriots quarterback and current color commentator Scott Zolak interrupted him from the back of the room. “Does it feel good to smile?!” he asked.
It most certainly does.
One month into this NFL season, no individual player was feeling the heat more than the third-year pro out of North Carolina.
Lordy, what a bizarre week this was in Boston. Noise reached Code-Red highs and it was all justified. Nobody could understand how one of the best players in the league suddenly resembled one of the worst. The shoulder may be affecting him. No, wait. It’s not. OK, then why is he on the injury report with a shoulder injury? You know, that same shoulder that required a painkilling injection before the Patriots were blasted by the Seahawks? Maye’s own messaging was cryptic, seemingly leaving the door open to a correlation.
Vrabel criticized his QB on WEEI, likening Maye to a golfer trying to “choke the life out of the golf club.” He called Maye’s interception into the end zone at Jacksonville “a terrible decision.” He said his quarterback needed to relax.
WEEI then reported that Maye “isn’t really Vrabel’s guy.”
Vrabel fired back that he took the job because of Maye.
All a discombobulated mess by any calculation.
All, of course, on the heels of an offseason from hell for this head coach.
This team and this quarterback were on a one-way track toward Dysfunction Junction.
So there was Maye inside the Patriots huddle with four minutes left against the Bills at Highmark Stadium. Josh Allen had just upped the ante, fire-hosing a ball 45 yards through the air to Keon Coleman in the end zone. The Patriots trailed by five points and 73 yards stood between them and the end zone. Left tackle Will Campbell, profiled here, had a simple message for the quarterback he’d famously fight and die to protect: “You’re the best in the fucking world,” Campbell told him. The Patriots quarterback then marched his unit right down the field and laced a 23-yard beauty to Efton Chism III that’d prove to be the game-winner.
This game was proof that the No. 1 problem was never Maye’s shoulder.
Rather, everything between the ears. His confidence. These players are not robots.
And against a Super Bowl contender, he found his mojo.
“It’s already in him,” Campbell added. “Everybody in here believes in him and knows what he can do and bring to this team. It showed today.”
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He was trending toward Chuck Knoblauch-level yips.
The surest sign of anxiety overwhelming a quarterback is one who tries to carefully guide the ball off his fingertips ever… so… slowly instead of reading the coverage, hitting the back step, ripping it. A mic’d up Julian Love during the Super Bowl announced this bug to the world. On the sideline, the Seahawks safety called Maye “a classic young quarterback,” before physically imitating Maye’s dropback — right down to his mini pause to confirm his wide receiver’s open before releasing the ball. “He’s not blindly doing it like Stafford,” Love added. Six months later, the issue lingered.
On Sunday, Maye completed 22 of 37 passes for 269 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 54 yards. Most importantly, the quarterback appeared to rediscover himself. The first three games of this season served as a throbbing Super Bowl hangover and these Bills were more than happy to supply a care package of all the Pedialyte, ibuprofen and greasy food Maye needed to properly bounce back.
Every time something went haywire, he didn’t spiral. He had an answer.
When Maye dropped a snap, he simply picked it back up and whipped a 20-yard completion to tight end Hunter Henry.
When Romeo Doubs bobbled a ball that was intercepted by Buffalo’s Dee Alford at the end of the first half — gifting the home team three points — he told the Patriots wideout he’d keep going right back to him. And he did. He lobbed a picturesque fade ball to Doubs in the corner for a touchdown over Maxwell Hairston. Honestly, the Bills’ 2024 first-round pick could’ve replaced the No. 1 on his chest with the Target bull’s eye. He was dreadful.
When Maye threw a bad ball to Kyle Williams out of bounds with 2 minutes left, he responded the next play with the third-and-5 scoring strike to Chism.
And when it was time to put this one on ice, the Patriots didn’t run three times into a brick wall. Coaches put the ball in the QB’s hands. After throwing incomplete, setting up a third and 10 with 55 seconds left, Maye rolled right and lofted a 12-yarder to Henry over the outstretched arms of 6-foot-6 Greg Rousseau to win. (Nor was Hairston interested in tackling Henry on the play.)
Win secured, Maye clenched both fists.
“I thought he just competed today,” Vrabel said. “I’m happy for him. I’m proud of him. He deserves all the credit. However things have been, the only thing that matters is what we’re going to do the next opportunity we get. Sometimes that’s hard for everybody to understand, but I think he really took that to heart.”
This was a gigantic missed opportunity for the Bills. Both Miami and the New York Jets will struggle to win four games apiece. And here were those Patriots, hyperventilating a mere three weeks into the season. Joe Brady’s crew could’ve all but stuffed their only legitimate division threat into a body bag and tossed ‘em over the Niagara. Instead, the Bills defense surrendered 405 yards, 26 first downs and 29 points. Afterward, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson dismissed Chism as a “practice squad player” (he’s never been on the practice squad, though CJGJ has) and Hairston stormed out of the locker room without speaking to reporters.
Allen chose the worst time for his worst throw of the day. Two first downs from field goal range, he evaded a free runner and foolishly heaved a prayer into double-coverage. He deserves plenty of blame for this loss.
Next up for the Bills is a cross-country trip to face the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football. Puka Nacua and Davante Adams await the stammering Bills secondary this week with Zay Flowers and Justin Jefferson also closing in.
This is Brady’s first bout of adversity as a head coach. We’re about to see what he’s made of.
Elsewhere in the bowels of this new stadium, you could virtually see a massive defibrillator inside the visitor’s locker room as Vrabel hands Maye a game ball and declares: “We ain’t taking no more fucking shit.” The head coach then addressed the whole team: “We’re just getting started boys. Because we ain’t fucking dead yet.”
Maye assured he has “full trust” in his own abilities and credited teammates for having his back all week — the boost was needed. His relief was palpable. Clearly, he needed to see himself produce to know the talent’s still in there somewhere.
After lobbing the game-winner to Chism, he wasn’t quite sure the Patriots receiver caught it until he started celebrating. Maye joked that he felt like a nervous mother sending her kid off to school for the first time. Not that he was surprised by the one-handed snag. The 2025 UDFA out of Eastern Washington made plays like this throughout training camp and constantly asks to stay after practice with Maye. “He loves his game and you get what you put into it,” Maye added, “and I think you saw that with Chiz.”
Vrabel showed why he’s the reigning coach of the year, managing this game like a man trying to inject confidence back into his QB. He went for it on fourth and 3 and fourth and 2. Both times, Maye found Doubs for completions. Against Josh Allen, the head coach wanted touchdowns, not field goals. Vrabel also likes to tell his offensive players that if they start wandering back toward the sideline after failed third downs, he’ll kick it. If they stay in the huddle, he’ll go for it.
Added Maye: “We’ve got to make him right.”
The running back lining up behind Maye, second-year pro TreVeyon Henderson, has dealt with his own demons: sleep paralysis, demonic presences atop his bedroom ceiling, suicidal thoughts.
It was loud this week. Not only in Boston, either. The entire country has been trying to figure out what is wrong with Maye.
Henderson insists he’s never been concerned because the quarterback, like himself, is extremely centered.
“We’re in a position where we’re constantly being critiqued,” Henderson said. “People are constantly trying to bash their opinions on us. It’s so important for you to know who you are outside of this game. It doesn’t define us. Drake knows who he is in the Lord. And it really encourages me to see that. He comes back to work each and every day to keep pushing the guys around him, keep getting better no matter what he’s going through. He always has a smile on his face and brings smiles to the guys around him. I appreciate him a lot man. He’s a great leader for this team.”
In 2025, the Patriots played the easiest regular-season schedule since the Greatest Show on Turf St. Louis Rams of 1999. When we last caught up with Kurt Warner, the Hall of Famer pointed out how opposing defenses picked up on his game in 2000 and 2001. He needed to adjust. If Maye can, he’ll be fine. Let’s not forget how crisp and explosive he was through New England’s 14-3 season. He resembled a Brady Lite, making plays that belied his age. His first QBs coach in New England detailed how Maye was already mastering two types of processing — pre-snap mental bandwidth and post-snap spatial awareness. All in addition to his deep accuracy, mobility, toughness.
These skills do not simply vanish in thin air. Young quarterbacks who win with their brain historically last longer than those who win with improvisation.
As discussed on Real Football with Jim Monos last week, the fastest way to regain confidence is by using your legs. Similar to a basketball player getting to the foul line. Maye did exactly that vs. Buffalo, settled in and started dissecting Buffalo through the air.
“He’s a big competitor,” Henderson said. “We can always count on him — always. No matter what he’s been through in the past. We know the type of player, the type of person he is. Most importantly. We know the type of player he is. We always stick together man. And that’s one thing I really love about this team.”
“Guys are picking him up. He’s always picking us up. We’re always just there for each other.”
Every NFL season is a marathon. The Las Vegas Raiders are no slouch next week.
Maye will make mistakes and Maye will have more opportunities to author a game-winning drive.
As the play clock ticks, count on Campbell offering a few more words of encouragement.
“Everyone in here believes in him,” Campbell said. “When he’s out there making plays and being who he is, there’s not a lot of people that are better than him at this game.”
This was a good, not great performance. The stat sheet doesn’t read impressive- just under 60% completion rate. But a win against a tough divisional opponent is the key takeaway.
The question is , after a number of brutal performances to start the season - is this a step in the right direction or a mirage ? Time will tell. I’m not sold on him yet - but open to being convinced