Once Drake Maye was given the official start in Week 6 of the 2024 season, it was clear throughout the rest of the year that he had all the tools to be the Patriots' next franchise quarterback. The poise he displayed as a rookie and his natural leadership skills were things that cannot be simply taught, proving the Jerod Mayo era made one good decision in an otherwise underwhelming draft.
What was also apparent with the quarterback, however, was his desire to go above and beyond what was needed to overcompensate for poor offensive play, much of which did not rest solely on his shoulders. That led to too many turnovers, some inexcusable, which has remained an issue so far this season.
That was evident in the Patriots' Week 3 game against the Steelers, as the offense recorded five turnovers in their losing effort in what should have been a very winnable game. Maye was responsible for one fumble and an interception, after completing a turnover-free game a week before.
His resiliency is something that fans and analysts have caught wind of, and his coaches have already recognized it as well. But that doesn't mean they want to see it all that often, which is something Mike Vrabel mentioned on Monday.
Mike Vrabel doesn't want to keep seeing Drake Maye's resiliency on a weekly basis
During his weekly appearance on WEEI, the head coach was asked about how Maye can bounce back after a mistake fairly easily, and that is exactly what the Patriots offense needs in their next leader.
However, Vrabel emphasized that while it's a great quality to have, it's not a situation that he feels the team should consistently be putting him, especially so early in his career, even if sometimes it's by Maye's own doing.
“Those are good qualities. We just can’t keep testing it over and over and over again. But I do appreciate the resiliency of him and this football team and our ability to continue to fight and continue to stay in it and compete. It just has to be cleaner so that we’re not always in that situation.”
While it's impressive to see that such a young player can avoid getting into his own head after a mistake and not let it deter him from the task at hand, Vrabel is right that it's not great to be putting Maye in that position as often as they have.
Those are problems they shouldn't have to deal with on almost a weekly basis, even if they do have the comfort of knowing that Maye is capable of handling it. We've seen what the offense can do when they're clicking and have a defense that keeps opposing offenses off the field, like it was against the Dolphins last week, so that's the kind of game they should be having more often.
That hasn't been consistent enough, as we saw in the matchup with the Steelers, and that will need to change fast if they want to have any chance of winning another game this season. That can start as soon as next week when the Panthers come to town, although they are coming off a blowout win over the Falcons, which could make the game a bit more challenging than initially anticipated.