Drake Maye certainly had a terrible performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3, when he committed three turnovers. By the third turnover, head coach Mike Vrabel appeared to put his hands around Maye’s shoulders as the New England Patriots lost 35-6. But of course, the highlight after the game wasn’t about Vrabel having a conversation or encouraging his quarterback.
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In fact, it was the rumors about a rift between the quarterback and the head coach amid a disappointing start to the season. However, NFL and Netflix insider Tom Pelissero has added another layer to it, reporting that there isn’t any issue between Maye and Vrabel.
According to Carlos A. Lopez, Pelissero revealed that there is “Zero truth” to the idea that there are problems between Maye and Vrabel. At the same time, Pelissero also added that there were “some chuckles among those in the know” regarding the rumor.
The development gained momentum after the Patriots’ Week 3 loss to the Jaguars. The story began with WEEI’s Greg Hill last month, as he revealed that he had been “whispered to” about an issue between Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye.
“It goes back to, despite what Mike Vrabel may have said publicly, it goes back to Drake Maye not being his guy,” said Hill.
The rumors gained traction as Maye found himself at the center of attention for all the wrong reasons. The quarterback kicked off his season with three turnovers in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks, followed by three more turnovers against the Jaguars.
At the same time, Maye acknowledged the rumors, putting an end to any doubts about his relationship with the head coach.
“Coach [Mike] Vrabel’s been one of the best football coaches I’ve had in my life,” Maye told the reporters on September 30. “I’ve loved playing for him, and it’s not going to change. The way he pushes me, and he coaches the quarterbacks in a way that I really respect, and I’m looking forward to getting going, proving to Coach that I can lead this football team and play good football.”
Across three games, Maye has completed 51-of-80 passes for 585 yards, just one touchdown, and six interceptions, as the Patriots dropped to 1-2. While the criticism and rumors were evident, Mike Vrabel also acknowledged the chatter about his dynamics with his quarterback.
“Are there any issues? He heard from who? That’s one of my favorites. Unnamed sources. Let me tell you why I’m here,” said Vrabel. “I’m here because Drake was their quarterback. Believe it or not, I had choices of where I wanted to coach. I wanted to coach here because Drake was the quarterback. I don’t really have much to add other than that about a comment from an unnamed source, but I’ll just tell you what I’ve told numerous people if they want to ask me why I’m here.”
For now, the evidence points more toward a rough start on the field than any real problem between Maye and Vrabel. With both the quarterback and head coach publicly backing their relationship, the focus will likely remain on whether Maye can clean up the turnovers and help the Patriots turn their season around.