The Patriots have the unfortunate luck of having to face the Bills again in Week 18 after just playing them two weeks ago. Although they shocked everyone and kept the game close, they still left Buffalo with a loss and the same is expected when the AFC East winners come to Foxboro on Sunday.
They are expected to have their starters in at the beginning of the game and eventually swap them out, since they have already locked up the second seed in the AFC playoffs. That might give the Patriots a slight advantage to sneak out a win, even if that's not what would be best for their draft positioning.
Because of that, there were rumors about Jerod Mayo choosing to keep Drake Maye sidelined for the final game of the season, especially since he was banged up during last week's game against the Chargers. That was further speculated after hearing that Joe Milton III received first-team reps at practice, but that apparently isn't changing the decision to have Maye play.
However, there has been no confirmation about how long Maye will remain in the game for.
It might not be a made idea to limit Drake Maye's snaps in the Patriots season finale
Besides wanting to avoid risking Maye's health further, specifically concussions since that has been an injury he's dealt with this year, plus a scare last week, NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that the quarterback also has a finger injury on his throwing hand coming into this game.
#Patriots QB Drake Maye, who suffered a finger injury during Sunday’s game, was listed as limited for practice with a right-hand injury.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 1, 2025
While injuring a finger further won't be a problem for the season since the Week 18 game is the Patriots' final matchup of the season, it's not ideal to risk any other injury in a game that doesn't mean a whole lot.
The problem, however, is that it's possible the outcome of this game will be significant in Robert Kraft's decision about Jerod Mayo's future as the team's head coach. So that might force him to keep Maye in as long as possible, as he is the quarterback to give them the best chance of winning.
At the same time, though, losing the game guarantees that they hold onto the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. That's important, but it won't be to Mayo if he's not around to reap the reward.
As for now, Maye is expected to (at the very least) be the starting quarterback come game time. How long he will remain in is more of the question and we won't know the answer to that until the game begins.
UPDATE:
Maye started the game and played one drive. After being sacked on third down, Joe Milton III relieved him and has remained the quarterback since.