The New England Patriots suffered a 35-6 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, their most lopsided defeat of the Mike Vrabel era and worst since losing 40-7 to the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 28, 2024 — when Jerod Mayo was still the Patriots’ head coach. And after the game, Vrabel had a blunt reaction to his team’s performance.
“My concern level is very high for this football team,” Vrabel said, as quoted by the Boston Herald‘s Doug Kyed. “I just wanna coach and improve. I think that’s the biggest thing when you come off a game like that. You just wanna get back and work.”
Quarterback Drake Maye then stood in front of reporters in Jacksonville and found the same word he used after a Week 1 defeat to the Seattle Seahawks. “Unacceptable.” The Patriots, who finished 14-3 last season, now sit at 1-2.
New England’s offense went another Sunday without finding the end zone.
Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns on 19-of-29 passing as the Jaguars won 35-6 at EverBank Stadium, and the Jaguars piled up 313 total yards while New England never crossed the goal line. Maye finished 14-of-25 for 199 yards, two interceptions and a lost fumble, including Travis Hunter’s first career pick on a third-and-goal throw into the back of the end zone and a Jarrian Jones return that set up a Chris Rodriguez Jr. touchdown the next play.
“You’ve got to take care of the football,” Vrabel said, according to his Wednesday remarks to NESN. “You’ve got to hit some returns; you’ve got to be able to find some X plays in the kicking game.”
New England failed every item on that list Sunday.
Patriots’ Drake Maye Delivers Blunt Self-Assessment
Maye didn’t wait for anyone else to hand out blame. “It’s disappointing. The ball starts rolling like that, we can’t get out of our own way, I can’t get out of my own way personally,” he said, according to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Alex Barth. “I’ve gotta look at myself in the mirror and take this as a turning point… what we’re doing out there offensively is unacceptable, it’s been unacceptable for three weeks. I’ve gotta start with myself.”
The quarterback also walked through the lost fumble, saying center Jared Wilson’s hand was bleeding before the snap and there was blood on the football, according to comments relayed by Kyed, though he added that he still needed to hang onto it.
Asked about his shoulder, Maye kept his answer short.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a problem with my shoulder,” he said, in response to a question from Patriots.com‘s Evan Lazar.
Patriots Brace for Tough Buffalo Bills Test
Through three games, Maye has thrown for 585 yards with one touchdown against six interceptions, a ratio that will not survive a trip north. New England visits a 1 p.m. kickoff at Highmark Stadium on Oct. 4, and Buffalo enters that Sunday as the AFC East favorite, at 3-0 after getting past the Chargers 24-16 on Sunday.
The Patriots are still missing wide receiver A.J. Brown to an ankle injury. New England has also drawn one of the NFL’s toughest schedules this season, according to Sports Illustrated, a burden that only grows heavier for a defending AFC champion sitting at 1-2 and 0-2 on the road. New England and Buffalo meet again Dec. 6 in Foxborough.
Vrabel’s fix sounds simple enough on paper — protect the football, avoid third-and-long, finish drives in the end zone. Whether the Patriots can manage any of that against Josh Allen and a Buffalo defense built to punish these exact mistakes is the question hanging over Foxborough this week.
Mike Vrabel Drops Blunt Statement on Patriots After 35-6 Loss to Jaguars