New England Patriots' Drake Maye is entering his second year in the NFL, and new head coach Mike Vrabel gave him a specific challenge to improve on in 2025.
Patriots’ Drake Maye Shares How Mike Vrabel Is Pushing Development originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The New England Patriots drafted Drake Maye with the third-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Maye did not start his rookie season as the starter, but he got his chance to play as the Patriots' season unraveled.
New England opened the season 1-4, with Maye coming off the bench to play a little in week two. After quarterback Jacoby Brissett got banged up, Maye earned his first start in week five. The rookie would be the starter for the rest of the season.
The Patriots finished 4-13, but Maye showed promise and toughness throughout his rookie year. New England fired head coach Jerod Mayo and hired former Patriot Mike Vrabel as the new head coach.
As Maye approaches his second year in the NFL, there's been a lot of change to the Patriots' roster and with that has come a lot of excitement and expectation. Maye's main points of emphasis this offseason have been fundamental development and leadership growth.
Coaches and teammates have taken notice of the work the Patriots' young quarterback has done to grow in those areas, and his new head coach has been monumental in that process.
“He does a great job of giving me points where I can improve, points where, ‘hey, maybe do this,’'’ Maye said (h/t MassLive.com). ”I think he’s also kind of letting me go, kind of seeing where I’m at. And I think it’s kind of a challenge for me to kind of lead this football team and lead this offense."
The relationship between a head coach and his quarterback is significant, especially when the head coach is new and the quarterback is young. The combination of Maye's work ethic and the respect Vrabel has earned has developed quite a relationship early on between the two.
At training camp on Wednesday, Maye explained what Vrabel has encouraged him to work on as he progresses from his first year into his sophomore season in the NFL.
“I think just kind of remaining a passer longer when I scramble, I think that’s big. I’m kind of getting outside the pocket, remaining a passer longer, hoping for some big plays, scramble plays," Maye said. “I feel like I had good times last year where I had some guys deep that I may have missed them or took off running instead. So, just trying to remain a passer and just keep trying to work on footwork.”
Drake Maye ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!? 🤯🤯🤯
— Boston Cream 🍩 (@itsbostoncream) July 24, 2025
⭐️ This guy is a superstar ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/dJXctSWsQP
Maye has always been a dual threat quarterback and effective scrambler. The young quarterback ran for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns combined in his final two years at North Carolina.
You combine that with the instability of the Patriots' offensive line last year, and it's no surprise Maye was quick to take off and run. However, that's something Maye can work on as an area of growth in year two.
The Patriots signed two offensive linemen in free agency to address the instability in 2024, and drafted three more, including their first-round pick, Will Campbell. The Patriots' offensive line will likely have three new starters in 2025, and could see a fourth new starter periodically in third-round pick Jared Wilson.
With better protection and another offseason to grow and understand defenses at the NFL level, Maye should feel more comfortable remaining a passer for longer to find guys open downfield. You can't expect the young quarterback to fix everything in one year, but Maye's working on the challenge his new head coach gave him this offseason.
Related: Patriots' Rookie Shows Off Hilarious Skill Before Practice
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Football
