Former NFL head coach Bruce Arians broke down what he thinks is the problem with New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. He spoke on the ‘Up And Adams’ show on Tuesday, and made his case.
Drake Maye has had a difficult start to the 2026 campaign. He has started for 585 yards, one touchdown, and six interceptions. He is coming off a game on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars that saw him tally no passing touchdowns and two interceptions. It was another difficult game for the quarterback, as the Patriots fell to 1-3 on the season.
Coach Sounds Off On Drake Maye
Now, Arians believes the quarterback is trying to do too much.
“I think just pressing too much, you know, the expectations of getting where they got last year and I think they [Vrabel’s staff] did an unbelievable job of coaching that team last year. Again, I think he could use a couple weapons around him, but I think he’s just pressing too much and trying to be a Superman all the time, which he doesn’t need to be. Just go play quarterback.”
The statistics undoubtedly pointed to Maye’s regression from 2025. For one, the quarterback has six interceptions in just three games. He threw only eight interceptions in the entire 2025 regular season. This included three fourth-quarter interceptions against the Seattle Seahawks in week one and two interceptions against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. One of the interceptions was near the end of the first half, in a situation that could have cut the Jaguars’ lead to four.
The quarterback is also three-of-eight passing inside the 20-yard line. He has a one-to-two touchdown-to-interception ratio. In addition, he has taken two red zone sacks this season.
Defenses Are Figuring Out Patriots Quarterback
There may be a bit of science behind this. Defenses have played zone coverage against the quarterback quite a bit this season. They have played zone coverage on 65% of drop-backs last season. This is a higher number than the 51% that occurred in 2025. In particular, the Cover 2 defense has been a weapon opposing defenses have been using. They have used Cover 2 on 32% of dropbacks. This is a higher number than 19% last year. It appears that opponents have been able to figure out his weakness and exploit it.
It’s not as if the schedule is going to get any easier either. The Patriots will have to play the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, and a divisional class that features a high-powered Bills offense. The Bills rank among the most dominant offenses in the league. They rank first in points per game at 33.7 and fourth in total offense with 401.7 yards per game. Of course, stopping them is up to the Patriots’ defense and is not really in Maye’s hands. However, that just leaves a smaller margin of error.
It will certainly be interesting to see how he cleans things up for Sunday’s contest. This doesn’t appear like it could be just a quick fix. The Patriots need an overhaul of the offense, and quickly. It’s hard to do an overhaul once the season is going. For now, the Patriots must make the best of a difficult situation and fix things before it’s too late.
Patriots QB’s Biggest Problem Revealed by NFL Coaching Legend