The start of the season has been a disaster for New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. That’s, of course, led to plenty of questions about why that might be.
A popular theory goes back to the Super Bowl a season ago. Maye dealt with a shoulder injury that has made him ineffective. Now, some are wondering if that shoulder might still be an issue that the Patriots and Maye aren’t acknowledging.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say there’s a problem with my shoulder. I think there’s times where I think you look back and you look back on the playoff run in that Denver game and when I took the hit and to now. I felt good during training camp and continue to let it loose,” Maye said when asked following the Jaguars loss.
Concerning New Report on Drake Maye’s Shoulder and the New England Patriots
There is obviously enough of a concern outside the Patriots organization about Drake Maye’s shoulder to ask him the question. Inside of it, there is much less concern.
However, Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal and CLNS Media did share that there is a concern about Maye’s shoulder within the organization. There are, apparently, some within the Patriots who are “befuddled” by how Maye is publicly speaking about his shoulder.
“I don’t think it’s any injury,” Bedard said. “In fact, talking to people around the team, they are befuddled by the way he has talked about his shoulder. Because there is nothing wrong with his shoulder…Some people in the building think that this might be coming from…people around him. Whether that’s his family or his agent trying to bake in an excuse for his throwing.”
Maye has consistently said that he doesn’t think he has a shoulder injury. He said, “I wouldn’t say there’s a problem” following the Jaguars game. However, that wording made some think he was dealing with an issue.
Obviously, the Patriots don’t think Maye’s shoulder is the issue. What is concerning about that report is that there may be some amount of growing disconnect between Maye and the organization itself.
Doug Kyed of The Boston Herald also recently addressed this on social media. There, he explained why the language Maye uses is the concern, calling them “non-answers” that he’s delivering.
“I’m not sounding the alarm on Maye’s shoulder. I just think his non-answers are worth pointing out, because it would be a big deal if the starting QB still has a shoulder injury from eight months ago,” Kyed wrote. “And I do believe it’s notable one way or another that he’s not just simply saying, ‘no.'”
Dan Orlovsky Criticized Combination of Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel
Not everyone is concerned about the shoulder issue for Drake Maye. In the case of ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, he shared that he isn’t confident that Maye works well with Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.
“I have not lost confidence in Drake Maye because the guy that he lost to yesterday was him in 2024. Trevor Lawrence’s confidence was shot in 2024 after the start of his career,” Orlovsky said.
“Multiple coaches, the turnovers, the decisions, it was awful. And all of a sudden Liam Coen comes in, and it’s this rocket ship. Now Trevor is about as confident as anybody in the NFL at that position. So I have not lost confidence in Drake Maye. Am I losing confidence in Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel as a team, as a grouping, as a pairing of head coach and quarterback? I am. Let’s have a good football conversation.”
It’s a big claim, given that Maye was an MVP runner-up and they went to the Super Bowl a season ago. Still, it’s concerning that the narrative exists at all.
Concerning Report Emerges on Patriots QB Drake Maye, Shoulder