Trouble in paradise now includes a health concern for Drake Maye.
The quarterback landed on New England's Wednesday injury report with a right shoulder injury, but was a full participant in the day's practice.
Maye was asked on Wednesday if his shoulder is impacting how he's throwing the football.
"No, it hasn't," Maye said. "I don't think it impacts my decision-making, and that's what makes and breaks play for quarterbacks."
Maye instead redirected the attention toward the team's turnover issues, which he admitted are holding them back.
"That's this position. There are reps in the game, and there are ones that cost you," Maye explained. "It happens to be that you've got to outweigh the good with the bad by a wide margin to play well at this position, and that's quarterback. I'm feeling good throwing, and I feel like I have some throws I wish I had back, as I always do, and definitely some decisions. But at the same time, I've got to trust my guys and trust the guys up front -- they're doing a nice job -- to keep on playing football."
Coach Mike Vrabel didn't appear to be concerned with his quarterback's status when speaking with reporters prior to Wednesday's practice, but did have to answer questions regarding a local report from WEEI's Greg Hill that suggested there is friction between Vrabel and Maye.
"He heard from who? Unnamed sources? Let me just tell you why I'm here," Vrabel said. "I'm here because Drake was the quarterback. Believe it or not, I had choices as to where I wanted to coach. I wanted to coach here because Drake was the quarterback. So, I don't have really much other to add to 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."
After three weeks, New England is 1-2 but occupies a place that seems much more nightmarish than the team's record might suggest. Maye has played a major role in their difficulties, creating space for the locals to sow discord.
Maye has struggled significantly to start the 2026 season, throwing three interceptions in the season's kickoff game, a 13-10 loss to Seattle, and committing seven giveaways in three contests. In New England's lopsided 35-6 defeat in Jacksonville on Sunday, Maye accounted for all three Patriots turnovers, including a couple of ghastly interceptions and a fumble in which the ball slipped out of his hand as he was winding to throw.
His numbers have fallen accordingly. After throwing for 4,394 yards and posting a 31-8 TD-INT ratio in 2025 -- production worthy of an NFL MVP finalist spot -- Maye has completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 585 yards and a 1-6 TD-INT ratio in 2026. His passer rating has dropped by 54.9 points, the largest decrease from one season to the next among qualifying quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era, per NFL Research.
At one point during Sunday's loss, Patriots color commentator Scott Zolak suggested Vrabel might bench Maye for backup Tommy DeVito. It eventually happened in the fourth quarter, but only because the game was out of reach. Afterward, Vrabel expressed his "concern level is very high for this football team," an accurate assessment of the defending AFC champions who have looked nothing like it through three weeks.
That doesn't mean Vrabel is suddenly at odds with his quarterback.
"Coach Vrabel's been one of the best football coaches I've had in my life," Maye said on Wednesday when asked of the reported rift. "I think Coach Vrabel's been one of the biggest things as to why this has been so enjoyable for me is playing for Coach. I think we all feel that way in the locker room. He pushes us hard. I've loved playing for him, and it's not going to change. It hasn't changed, and it won't 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."
Instead of spending his days refuting reports of internal conflict, Vrabel is dedicating himself to helping his quarterback improve. It's essential to the Patriots' efforts of repeating as AFC East champions ahead of a big Week 4 game at the 3-0 Bills on Sunday.
"Well, the same thing I've been doing: just trying to coach the football team, trying to coach him," Vrabel said when asked how he could help Maye climb out of his slump. "I'm not going to coach him the X's and O's. I mean, I can show him the defense and say, 'Hey, this is what these guys may like to try to do.' But it's just about the urgency that we have, how we operate and how we get in and out of the huddle and the command of the huddle.
"The quarterback is a conduit to [offensive coordinator] Josh [McDaniels] and the play caller. I firmly believe that the way that they tell the players that they're playing with, like, 'Hey, this is what we're going to do. This play is going to work not because it's some great scheme, it's going to work because we're going to execute it, or we're going to make it work.' And you get them to believe that whatever he calls is going to be successful. Now, will every one be? No, that's not how it goes. But that's what I try to teach them each and every day."
Maye's partnership with McDaniels worked wonderfully in 2025 en route to a surprising Super Bowl trip, making their struggles that much more shocking. It's early, though, and as Vrabel said, if Maye can eliminate his negative plays, their issues will eventually dissipate.
Just don't expect him to say much more about a rumored conflict.
