Drake Maye has hit back at claims of a rift between himself and head coach Mike Vrabel after his awful start to the season.
Maye was an MVP contender last year in his sophomore season as he led the New England Patriots on a surprise run to the Super Bowl.
But their offense stuttered in the postseason then found no answers against the Seattle Seahawks as they fell one step short of a championship. And those struggles have been magnified so far this season, with Maye leading the league in turnovers after a 1-2 start.
The Patriots head to Buffalo to take on the Bills this Sunday off the back of a 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that ramped up the heat in New England.
Stephen A Smith suggested on ESPN First Take this week that the offseason scandal surrounding Vrabel and NFL insider Dianna Russini might be to blame, claiming Vrabel was perhaps not as prepared as usual and Maye has paid the price.
Reports surfaced on local radio claiming Maye and Vrabel were not on the best terms – something both have firmly denied, with the quarterback coming out strongly in support of his head coach.
Drake Maye has denied rumors of a rift with head coach Mike Vrabel in New England
Maye has had a miserable start to the new season with the Patriots losing heavily last week
‘Coach [Mike] Vrabel’s been one of the best football coaches I’ve had in my life,’ Maye told reporters on Wednesday. ‘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.’
Vrabel was similarly firm in his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show this week, insisting former University of North Carolina standout Maye is the reason he decided to take the Patriots job in the first place.
‘Let me just tell you why I’m here,’ Vrabel said on Thursday. ‘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.’
Speaking on ESPN this week, Smith pointed to the off-field distractions impacting the Patriots head coach as a theory for what has gone wrong.
He said: ‘We all know that Mike Vrabel was in the news in the offseason for some personal matter. And I think it’s fair to say that he was a bit distracted.
‘And I find myself wondering. Those distractions, and whether or not they potentially compromised his routine and his ability to be on top of things the way he normally would be when it comes to coaching this quarterback, or any quarterback, for that matter.’
Vrabel says Maye is the reason he chose to become head coach of the New England Patriots
Maye landed on the injury report with a shoulder injury but insists it hasn’t impacted his play
While there might not be any rift, there has been a lingering shoulder issue bothering Maye to the extent that he landed on the injury report on Wednesday.
But he was definitive about it having no impact on his play when quizzed on the injury.
‘No, it hasn’t. It hasn’t, and I think it doesn’t impact my decision making, and that’s what makes and breaks play for quarterbacks,’ Maye said.
‘I don’t feel like we’re struggling to move the ball. I think we’re turning the football over, doing things that are preventing us from scoring touchdowns, and I think that’s one of the biggest things for me.
‘I think we’ve had a history when we don’t turn the football over of playing good football and finding ourselves on the right side of games. So that’s the biggest thing, and I’m looking forward to another good week of practice. It felt good out there today.’
