The Patriots have plenty to be excited about here in 2025, with a rebuilt defensive front, a linebacker group rated the best in the AFC, a defensive secondary that should also be among the tops in the league, a new-look offensive line and a host of new weapons at the skill positions. Adding a veteran coach like much beloved Mike Vrabel and an experienced group of assistants will only help smooth out the very rough patches left by last year’s staff.
But, as has been repeated with great frequency this offseason: It still all comes down to Drake Maye being as good a quarterback as the Patriots and the team’s fans think he can be. And that’s no given, not considering the fact that he is merely a second-year player who still has much to prove.
Maye was 3-9 as a starter last season, and threw for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, putting up a quarterback rating of 88.1. He showed promise, but now he will need to show production.
Drake Maye Got Married
After a slate of spring practices in which Maye came out rusty but improved as time went on, Maye has been taking advantage of the month-plus between mandatory minicamp and the start of training camp. He took a rather sizable plunge, in fact, when he got married back on June 21 to his longtime girlfriend, Ann Michael Hudson.
Since then, he has also been spotted at Wimbledon for a bit of tennis. He will also host his youth camp next week in New Hampshire. (Not as big a commitment, but still, it’s on his calendar).
In between the nuptials and the kids, Maye is apparently getting wistful for football. He posted a photo on Instagram on Wednesday of him dropping back to pass during camp. “Immaculate vibes,” he wrote.
Patriots Need Leadership
After watching the Patriots stumble their way through the past two seasons with eight total wins, fans of the team will be willing to allow Maye to be something less than immaculate. With the defense the franchise has assembled, and with the potential running back combo of Rhamondre Stevenson and rookie TreVeyon Henderson, one of the goals of the franchise was clearly to take pressure off Maye as he develops.
Still, Vrabel is hoping for a bit of balance from Maye–the ability to make mistakes and learn from them, combined with the ability to take the reins of the team as a leader, a tough needle to thread for a 22-year-old.
“I think that there is a lot of room to grow. I think there’s a lot of natural leadership qualities,” Vrabel said of Maye via MassLive. “I think I have to encourage him, continue to encourage him and to put him in those positions to do that so that the players understand that there’s a different version of all of us.
“There’s one that’s maybe off the field, that there’s one in the meeting room, and then there’s a version on the field, which we all have to understand is somewhat different than what it may be off the field.”
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