Mike Vrabel Calls Out Patriots Qb Drake Maye Over 1 Flaw

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 17, 2025, 12:57 PM

mike vrabel calls out patriots qb drake maye over 1 flaw

He’s expected to be a franchise quarterback, but that won’t happen for Drake Maye unless New England Patriots starter Drake Maye heeds the warning from head coach Mike Vrabel. The latter wants the second-year passer to make one subtle but important change to how he approaches the game. Vrabel made the need for change clear when speaking to reporters after Maye and the Pats stumbled to a 21-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3. As Vrabel explained, Maye must understand “we can’t win it all on one play,” per 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Alex Barth. This was the key soundbite from Vrabel’s assessment of Maye against the Steelers, a performance with “a lot of good in there, but just some decision-making that we need to be better. Says there needs to be an understanding that “we can’t win it all on one play.”

Studying the tape of what happened against the Steelers at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, September 21 can help Maye learn the lesson. The third-overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft lost a fumble and threw a critical end-zone interception just before halftime, exposing the core flaw in Maye’s game. The New England Patriots never trailed in their 48-18 throttling of the Washington Commanders on Friday night as the home team returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and never looked back. While the fans in attendance were certainly pleased with the outcome, first-year Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel let starting quarterback Drake Maye have it over one mistake that the second-year signal caller cannot make... On the first series of the game for Maye and the New England offense, the former North Carolina Tar Heels standout held onto the ball too long while trying to make a play. This resulted in Commanders defender Jer’Zhan Newton forcing a fumble that Washington ultimately recovered.

That decision did not sit well with Vrabel for the rest of the night and he made that clear when speaking with the media, via Karen Guregian of MassLive.com. Even with blowout win, Mike Vrabel wasn't happy with Drake Maye, singling out play in particular from the preseason opener against Washington https://t.co/2IvhEaUSRN Send this article to your social connections. Send this article to your social connections. In case you forgot, or didn’t know, Thursday’s Jets-Patriots game was a matchup between the two teams that were most interested in Mike Vrabel this past offseason. If Thursday was any indication, Vrabel’s decision was validated by the top reason he decided to go to New England.

Following the Patriots’ 27-14 victory over the Jets, Vrabel pointed to Drake Maye for the reason he wound up with New England. “I came here because of the familiarity. I came here because of Drake,” the Patriots head coach told Prime’s “TNF Postgame Show.” “I knew what he would be, and it was important for me to come here. And that’s someone I wanted to coach. And so building a program is about that. It’s about putting great people around your really good players.

That’s what Drake is for us.” FOXBORO — The Patriots’ season opener was on Drake Maye’s shoulders, and the second-year quarterback couldn’t deliver in the 20-13 loss to the Raiders. Ultimately, Maye performed similarly to how he played last season. He had some impressive moments, especially in the first half and while targeting wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, but he also took a delay of game penalty, struggled under pressure and wasn’t able to put... Maye was just 4-of-11 for 45 yards with an interception and a fumble while facing pressure on Sunday. After going 14-of-20 for 150 yards and a passing touchdown to DeMario Douglas in the first half, Maye was just 16-of-26 for 137 yards with an interception after halftime.

The Patriots crumbled after Maye’s turnover, which came on the opening drive of the third quarter. Maye was hit while he threw and sailed the ball over Stefon Diggs and into Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao’s diving arms. Head coach Mike Vrabel took it easy on his quarterback after the game. New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has with no doubt, won new head coach Mike Vrabel’s confidence, but for Vrabel, it long preceded the 9-2 start. “I came here because of the familiarity. I came here because of Drake,” Vrabel told the Amazon postgame show crew via NBC Sports Boston.

“I knew what he would be, and it was important for me to come here. And that’s someone I wanted to coach. And so building a program is about that. It’s about putting great people around your really good players. That’s what Drake is for us.” Maye carved up the New York Jets defense in a 27-14 win on Thursday, the team’s eighth-straight.

It led to chants of MVP from the crowd, a fan base that once saw Patriots legend Tom Brady dominate the league for two decades and win three regular season MVPs. Maye was part of that postgame conversation with Amazon, and he expressed his appreciation of Vrabel, who came in and re-tooled the Patriots after back-to-back 4-13 seasons. Vrabel once played for the Patriots during the Brady era, and Vrabel went on to coach the Tennessee Titans before his current position. “It means the world. It goes both ways,” Maye said. “I can’t thank coach enough for what he’s done, what he’s gonna do for my career, for my life.

He brings it every day. He said this, and he’ll text me later tonight about something I could have done better in the game. He’s constant, he’s awesome, and we love playing for him. I love playing for him.” Mike Vrabel spent the 2024 season serving as a consultant with the Cleveland Browns before he became the top candidate of last winter's head-coach hiring cycle. While numerous stories at the time linked Vrabel with the Las Vegas Raiders, it's now known that he always intended to become the New England Patriots' next head coach following the rookie season of...

Under Vrabel and Maye, the Patriots improved to 9-2 on the season via a 27-14 win over the New York Jets on Thursday night. After that victory, Vrabel opened up about the events that led him back to New England during the offseason. "I came here because of the familiarity," Vrabel explained, per Chris Mason of MassLive. "I came here because of Drake. I knew what he would be, and it was important for me to come here. And that’s someone I wanted to coach.

And so building a program is about that. It’s about putting great people around your really good players. That’s what Drake is for us." Vrabel and quarterback Tom Brady earned three Super Bowl rings as teammates with the Patriots from 2001-08. While Vrabel was inducted into the Patriots' Hall of Fame in the fall of 2023, that was before Brady was officially approved as a minority owner of the Raiders. Send this article to your social connections.

Send this article to your social connections. Mike Vrabel was candid earlier this week when asked about a turnover-heavy showing from the Patriots during their in-stadium scrimmage on Aug. 1. “The turnovers are certainly going to get us beat. … that’s something that — those things that you mentioned, I think, overshadow a lot of the good stuff that we did in a team setting that had the team split up and different... The Patriots head coach did not change his tune on Friday night, even after New England opened preseason action with a convincing 48-18 win over the Commanders.

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was not pleased with the play recently of starting quarterback Drake Maye. Vrabel talked about Maye’s inconsistent play and said he cannot take the day off from leadership, especially after he makes a mistake. “The expectation is that he’s leading this football team,” Vrabel said on WEEI’s Greg Hill Show. “That’s what the job of the head coach and the quarterback is. That’s pretty much how this thing goes. And that he can’t take days off.

I mean, sometimes the performance isn’t going to be extraordinary, but the leadership and the demeanor has to be. And I think he’s learning that. I love the fact that he’s willing to learn and push and try to do those things to where he’s demanding of everybody and making sure that everybody’s on the same page.” Vrabel was upset with Maye after a fumble he had, and he made it clear he expects Maye to clean up the mistakes and keep his head in the game. “Sometimes we just can’t try to make plays because they turn into bad ones,” Vrabel said. “I think he’ll learn from it and understand, OK.

I’m not going to be able to play Superman all the time, and I can reserve the right to punt and help this football team flip the field, go play defense and get another... The New England Patriots went out on Sunday and gave it their all, doing what they could to secure a tough divisional win over the Miami Dolphins. And that they did. But Drake Maye helped make the moment extra special for one very important member of the Patriots organization. After taking the knee on the final play of the game, Maye rushed right over to the team’s equipment manager, making sure that the ball was kept safe so it could be given to... Maye wanted to make sure he got the game ball from his first win as head coach of the Patriots.

“I took that football out, the one I (took a knee) there and gave it right Stick our equipment guy, and let coach get that ball,” Maye said. “Said that means a lot and I think it means a lot to him. So it took everybody, but he’s leading the charge and that meant something to do that.” Robert Kraft then handed him the game ball in the locker room, earning a huge cheer from the staff. And he also handed out some game balls to the players who impacted Sunday's game in a huge way. Drake Maye celebrates a touchdown during the second quarter of the Patriots' 27-14 victory against the Jets on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.

Logan Bowles / Getty Images It’s just a matter of time before we see New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Drake Maye teaming up to do one of those buddy TV commercials that are all the rage... You know, like “Scrubs” veterans Zach Braff and Donald Faison plugging T-Mobile Internet, or the Xfinity Multiview spot in which Vince Vaughn whips up his special pancakes for Owen Wilson. Vrabel and Maye got a ton of nationally televised postgame exposure Thursday night, this after the Patriots emerged with a methodical, taking-care-of-business 27-14 victory over the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium. Sitting next to each other on the set, Vrabel did some calculating in his head and came up with this: “My younger son Carter’s the same age as Drake, and I’m thinking, my God,... I’m 50, and it’s just so much fun because these guys are experiencing a lot of this for the first time.

Mike Vrabel Calls Out Patriots Qb Drake Maye Over 1 Flaw

People Also Search

He’s Expected To Be A Franchise Quarterback, But That Won’t

Studying The Tape Of What Happened Against The Steelers At

That Decision Did Not Sit Well With Vrabel For The

Following The Patriots’ 27-14 Victory Over The Jets, Vrabel Pointed

That’s What Drake Is For Us.” FOXBORO — The Patriots’