Getty Head coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots speaks with Drake Maye

We are New England Patriots fans. Don’t tell us to relax. First and foremost let me say, I am one of you. I watched Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer, Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, Jacoby Brissett, Joe Milton. I get it. Sunday was supposed to be different.

After a summer filled with optimism and three solid preseason performances, Mike Vrabel was supposed to usher in a new era of New England Patriots football with an emphatic home win over Josh McDaniels’ former team.

But after an uninspiring 20-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. And a less than encouraging offensive showing. Patriots fans are worried about the coach, and shockingly, the quarterback.

“I need you to tell me Drake Maye will be OK.”

ESPN’s NFL analyst Ben Solak posted his Week 1 takeaways Tuesday afternoon. At the end Solak opened it up to fan questions. Leading the segment, was a worried Patriots fan named Chris who needed to hear that the young gun slinger will be okay.

“This was one of Maye’s worst games as a pro. He started pushing in the second half against Las Vegas, which led to poor decisions and accuracy sprays,” Solak began. “The Pats get a Week 1 pass. — a lot of teams were sloppy in Week 1, as is always the case — but this is precisely the sort of thing Mike Vrabel was hired to clean up.”

Offensively, Solak points to the fact that the Patriots have reinvented this side of the football. He expects Maye to develop better chemistry with an almost entirely brand new room of pass catchers. We all saw the miscommunications on more than one route Sunday. Whether it be the depth of the breaks, or instances when Maye was expecting an option route to go one way and it went the other.

Regardless, the sun will rise tomorrow. The talks of Vrabel not being the coach fans thought he was seems entirely premature. And as far as Maye is concerned, Solak says he will be fine too.

“Patriots fans should be the first to remember not to overreact to Week 1, however,” Solak concludes. “Remember last season? When Jacoby Brissett led New England to a win over the Bengals? This was a bad Maye game, but in four weeks, it’ll feel like a meaningless Maye game. So yes, Maye will be OK.”

A Lot Can Change In A Year

This time last year it was Jerrod Mayo who was the handpicked successor to the greatest of all time. Years of preparation led Mayo to Week 1 in Cincinnati where he and Jacoby Brissett would walk into the Tigers Den and take down Joe Burrow and the Bengals.

In a 16-10 slug fest, wide receivers Tyquan Thornton and K.J. Osborn had the most receiving yards in the room.

The Patriots would lose the next six games.

Week 1 is Week 1 is Week 1 is Week 1. I know how we work in the Boston sports media. But this team has three very winnable games coming up before traveling to Buffalo to take on the Bills on primetime.

If the Pats make it out of the first four weeks 2-2, how would we feel about Vrabel’s first month?