The preseason swagger and leadership have been nice, but with the New England Patriots staring down the barrel of Wednesday night’s National Football League opener in Seattle, Drake Maye is officially on the clock.
The two interceptions. The fumble. The six sacks absorbed. The 79.1 passer rating. All those will be revisited repeatedly between now and kickoff. Maye is human with social media. He’ll hear about it.
And now, he’s presented with — while not being able to wash it away – the opportunity to put it in the rear-view mirror.
Still on his mind
“In the last game that I played and was out there, we lost to them in the biggest game. That’s why you play the game for. So there’s definitely, I would not say extra, just a little bit of, man, this is our chance to start the season off strong on a good foot and knowing that the opponent that we have,” said Maye.
“You get to say, you get a little bit of a, you get your revenge game, but I would not say revenge game. They won the big one, and we got to start the season off. You cannot get that game back that we lost, so we are onto something new.”
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Stakes raised in 2026
Something new is a season with an absolute monster schedule compared to a year ago when New England faced 10 of 21 quarterbacks who are no longer NFL starters.
Another upgrade in 2026 is Maye’s receiving corps, with Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte out and A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs in.
The one thing that hasn’t changed much is his offensive line, a line that allowed 21 sacks in four playoff games a year ago.
Four of those five starters are back. You can make your own judgment on Alijah Vera-Tucker stepping in to replace Garrett Bradbury.
Ultimately, it’s on the line
Maye is confident, but in the end, his survival and continued emergence could rely on the guys up front.
“I think those guys have grown and I am looking forward to seeing them. I found the joint practices were fun to watch them work and get after it and run the football and protect me,” said Maye. “The more and more that these defensive guys are getting paid for coming after me. So, they got a tough job, but I know that those guys and we got a lot of confidence in those guys, and it’s a tight-knit group and I respect that and I am looking forward to getting out there with them again.”
