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New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel called out QB Drake Maye for one core flaw.
He’s expected to be a franchise quarterback, but that won’t happen for Drake Maye unless New England Patriots starter Drake Maye heeds the warning from head coach Mike Vrabel.
The latter wants the second-year passer to make one subtle but important change to how he approaches the game. Vrabel made the need for change clear when speaking to reporters after Maye and the Pats stumbled to a 21-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3.
As Vrabel explained, Maye must understand “we can’t win it all on one play,” per 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Alex Barth. This was the key soundbite from Vrabel’s assessment of Maye against the Steelers, a performance with “a lot of good in there, but just some decision-making that we need to be better.”
Mike Vrabel on Drake Maye’s performance: “A lot of good in there, but just some decision-making that we need to be better.”
Says there needs to be an understanding that “we can’t win it all on one play.”
— Alex Barth (@RealAlexBarth) September 21, 2025
Studying the tape of what happened against the Steelers at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, September 21 can help Maye learn the lesson. The third-overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft lost a fumble and threw a critical end-zone interception just before halftime, exposing the core flaw in Maye’s game.
Correcting it will be a balancing act between curbing his natural flair as a playmaker able to go off script, without rendering Maye an overly cautious signal-caller.
Patriots Want Restraint from Drake Maye
Maye lost a fumble in a clutch moment during the fourth quarter because he refused to take what would’ve amounted to a coverage sack. The turnover prompted CBS Boston’s Michael Hurley to state “One thing Drake Maye needs to learn is when a play is shot. This play is FUBAR. Protect the ball, take your medicine, play second down.”
This type of judgement call and which side Maye is coming down on speaks to him being at a pivotal stage of his development. One where the 22-year-old must decide what kind of quarterback he’s going to become.
Will Maye mature into a deluxe game-manager who can make all the throws, but is content to take what defenses give him and play smart, situational football? Those are the things Tom Brady did to in six Super Bowls in a Patriots uniform.
Or will Maye lean into his gung-ho instincts and back himself to turn any supposedly broken play into a positive for his team? The success of this approach has been proven by Patrick Mahomes, who makes a seemingly improbable big play off the cuff every week for the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of three Super Bowls out of the last six.
Vrabel won a trio of Lombardi Trophies as a teammate of Brady’s, so he favors the more conservative style of quarterback. It’s why Vrabel brought Josh McDaniels back to New England for a third stint as offensive coordinator, but Maye is still adjusting to the constraints and complexities of this more efficient system.
Mike Vrabel’s Offense Not Fitting Patriots QB
Framing the playbook around Maye’s off-platform athleticism is proving a challenge for McDaniels and Vrabel. Their offense has traditionally been designed for a pocket-based passer able to make rapid reads and adjustments, followed by quick, decisive throws.
Ball placement is key, but Vrabel was blunt after Maye misplaced vital throws this week. Some of those mistakes were highlighted by Taylor Kyles of Patriots on CLNS, who identified “inaccurate throws, poor awareness/decisions, and quick pressure” as just as damaging as turnovers against the Steelers.
Fumbles cratered the #Patriots’ chances vs the Steelers, but the pass game was also held back by inaccurate throws, poor awareness/decisions, and quick pressure
Missed several opportunities for big plays or crucial conversions, particularly off play action pic.twitter.com/sqZH1s6EIV
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) September 22, 2025
The Patriots are attempting to refine a raw but gifted passer into a nuanced pro QB1, so some bumps in the road are inevitable. Getting things right will require compromise from both sides.
Maye must rein in some of his reckless aggression, but Vrabel and McDaniels have to let their mercurial athlete at football’s most important position play to his strengths.
James Dudko covers the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL and world soccer since 2011, with bylines at FanSided, Prime Time Sports Talk and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy in 2021. More about James Dudko
