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Mike Vrabel continues to preach tough love, set high standards for Drake Maye
"Sometimes the performance isn't going to be extraordinary, but the leadership and the demeanor has to be."
In a preseason opener where several Patriots players thrived and New England easily handled Washington, 48-18, the lopsided score in favor of New England didn’t translate over to Mike Vrabel’s postgame musings.
At least when it came to the team’s starting QB, Drake Maye.
After preaching all summer long of the importance of New England limiting turnovers, New England’s head coach was not thrilled with his QB’s strip-sack and subsequent fumble on his first drive of the evening on Friday.
“That’s a bad decision and I think we’re going to need better from him and I think he knows that and I think that’s obvious,” Vrabel said postgame. “Wasn’t there and we just have to be able to find a way to get rid of the football or take a sack and punt and play defense. But to the defense’s credit, they forced a field goal and I think that was missed. But it was a sudden-change opportunity.”
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Even if a miscommunication between rookies Will Campbell and Jared Wilson led to pressure bearing down on Maye in short order, the second-year QB’s decision to try and extend the play rather than take a sack or throw the ball away was a lapse on the part of the young QB.
Speaking on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday morning, Vrabel was asked about Maye’s development and the standards set for the top player on New England’s roster.
The Patriots’ new head coach acknowledged that Maye’s decision-making and execution is not expected to flawless — be it on the practice field or in game situations.
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But as Vrabel tries to set a new standard in Foxborough and cultivate a new leadership group in New England, he acknowledged that Maye will be under a microscope this season as the team’s coaching staff tries to round out the flaws in his game.
“The expectation is that he’s leading this football team,” Vrabel said of Maye. “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.”
Maye was one of the few bright spots on an otherwise listless Patriots offense last season, throwing for 15 touchdowns and 2,276 yards over 13 games last season while also gaining 421 yards on the ground with two rushing scores.
But Maye was also prone to turnovers as a rookie — committing 10 interceptions while also losing two fumbles.
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As the Patriots look to re-establish themselves as viable contenders in the AFC, Vrabel said that New England’s revamped roster can’t be hindered by the same missteps that stalled out drives and sapped momentum in 2024 and the previous years under Mac Jones.
“We talked about staying off the roller coaster, you know what I mean?” Vrabel said. “Roller coasters go up, they go down, they get stuck sometimes, and then you’re really in trouble. So we’re trying to stay off the roller coaster and just continue to build some consistency in what we’re doing positively.”
Plenty will fall on Maye’s shoulders when it comes to taking the next step in his development during the 2025 season.
But Vrabel stressed that the Patriots have also built up an environment in Foxborough that should help Maye through the expected growing pains that await — especially with longtime offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels back in the fold.
“Well, certainly it’s key to coaching,” Vrabel said of McDaniels’ presence and his track record of catering offensives to his QB’s strengths. “And things that we ask our coaches to do is just try to develop players. And I think that the one thing that’s important is – yeah, you want to use testimonials of other players, but you also have to be careful how you frame it, right?
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“Making sure that it’s similar, and that they can see the similarities – maybe who you’re trying to use as an example, right? And just different players that he’s coached, and not just Tom [Brady], per se. But the development of other young quarterbacks through this system, I think, can be very beneficial.”
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