The New England Patriots need to keep winning to meet their top two immediate goals: winning the AFC East and the top seed in the AFC. Win out, and they do both. The key to all of this has been MVP candidate Drake Maye in his second season. Former Patriots quarterback Bryan Hoyer recently spoke about one aspect of Maye's game that impresses him: his ability to "weather the storm".
Hoyer has this exactly right. Maye is what you could call imperturbable, or close to it. No NFL or any other quarterback is going to just dust off an interception, strip sack, or a fumble without some reaction. If he does, he's in the wrong game.
In Maye's case, though, it doesn't seem to rattle him much and get him off kilter, and that's the key to the rest of the game. Mistakes happen to any quarterback in the NFL or anywhere else. It's how you react, get up off the floor, dust off your uniform, and get back in the game that separates the winners from the also-rans.
Former Patriots Bryan Hoyer is a big fan of Drake Maye's attitude
Bryan Hoyer played 17 years as a quarterback in the NFL, eight with the Patriots. He certainly knows what playing the position is all about. He's both experienced it himself and watched others, including the best ever to play the game, Tom Brady, for almost two decades.
One attribute he appreciates and sees in Drake Maye is his ability to handle adversity.
"It's just amazing to me how he weathers the storm and just has that internal confidence ... That's when the folklore of a player starts to grow."@bhoyer7 joined @WEEIAfternoons to discuss the special type of confidence Drake Maye is displaying. pic.twitter.com/mUjaaAWu1X
— WEEI (@WEEI) November 25, 2025
Whether you call it confidence, weathering the storm, unflappability, or something else, Maye has it, and it's evident every time adversity strikes. Maye just picks himself up off the canvas and goes right back to work. It's an individual character trait, and if you have it, it can help make your team a winner.
Drake Maye takes the game as it comes and keeps on trucking
In the first few games of the season. Drake Maye made multiple mistakes. Whether it was interceptions, strip sacks, taking sacks, or fumbles, there were a number of them in the first three games, and the team was struggling.
Coaching is a factor in all this, and the two professionals most responsible for their young quarterback are in the NFL. Head Coach Mike Vrabel and Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels have both seen everything in the NFL. They know how to give a young player a proverbial jab and when to provide bolstering when that's the preferred option.
Fortunately, in Maye, they have a player who'll react to both fittingly. Earlier this season, Vrabel publicly scolded Maye for putting himself in harm's way. Maye got the message, and he's been better at avoiding those situations since. Yet, when a pure mistake is made, you'll see Vrabel there buttressing his young quarterback, and that's also paying off.
Hoyer is right about Drake Maye. The term unflappable is appropriate. Maye doesn't get too down when things go poorly, nor does he go over the top when the team clicks. He celebrates and gets right back to work. It's all worked out thus far in 2025 to the tune of a brilliant 10-2 record, and if they keep up their current level of play, their record will get a whole lot better by January.