{"id":42917,"date":"2026-02-04T23:29:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T23:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42917"},"modified":"2026-02-04T23:29:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T23:29:19","slug":"is-patriots-qb-drake-maye-ready-for-the-nfls-biggest-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42917","title":{"rendered":"Is Patriots QB Drake Maye ready for the NFL’s biggest stage?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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SANTA CLARA\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Drake Maye did not wait long to earn a spot on the NFL\u2019s grandest stage.<\/p>\n

In only his second season, the New England Patriots\u2019 quarterback led his team to the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Now Maye, 23, will try to join four other second-year quarterbacks who won Super Bowl titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not too great at my history,\u201d Maye said when asked if he knew the other second-year winners. \u201cI know there\u2019s been some young ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kurt Warner of the Rams, Tom Brady of the Patriots, Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks won titles in their second seasons.<\/p>\n

Maye correctly identified the player he called \u201cBig Ben.\u201d Apprised that Brady, who won six of his seven Super Bowl titles with the Patriots, also was part of the group, Maye quipped, \u201cBrady, he wasn\u2019t a bad one either.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Maye will lead the Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX at Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a \u201cfull-circle\u201d moment, said Maye, who attended Super Bowl Bowl L at Levi\u2019s Stadium with his father in 2016.<\/p>\n

The Patriots are seeking their first title since the 2018 season, when they defeated the Rams in Super Bowl LII in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that makes it so special for me, at such a young age, is to cherish such a moment,\u201d Maye said.<\/p>\n

Maye has been nursing a right shoulder injury but he said he would be \u201cjust fine\u201d for Sunday when the Patriots go against the Seahawks\u2019 \u201cDark Side\u201d defense.<\/p>\n

Maye is in the Super Bowl after making a huge leap from his rookie season.<\/p>\n

The Patriots selected the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Maye out of North Carolina with the third pick in the 2024 draft. Under first-year coach Jerod Mayo, Maye passed for 15 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions, and rushed for 421 yards and two touchdowns for a team that finished 4-13.<\/p>\n

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Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired Mayo after the season and replaced him with Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker who won three Super Bowls with the team as a player and coached the Tennessee Titans to three playoff appearances in six seasons from 2018 to 2023.<\/p>\n

Vrabel brought back Josh McDaniels, the offensive coordinator for three Patriots Super Bowl championship teams, and Maye flourished.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive a lot of credit to the people around me,\u201d Maye said. \u201cCoaches, players, new teammates, another year with people I did play with, and just finding confidence in myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maye completed a league-high and franchise-record 72% of his passes, 31 for touchdowns, with eight interceptions. He also rushed for 450 yards and four touchdowns while leading the Patriots to a 14-3 record and the AFC East title.<\/p>\n

Maye is a finalist for NFL most valuable player and for offensive player of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all starts with talent,\u201d Vrabel said of Maye, adding, \u201cHe plays the position athletically, and that allows him to be accurate with the football, whether that\u2019s in the pocket or extending plays. He \u2026 continues to build and develop as a leader, so his success and his performance is a large part of why we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Receiver Kayshon Boutte concurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty much as simple as that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 2020 season that Cam Newton played for the Patriots provided \u201cuseful\u201d material for designing an offense that took advantage of Maye\u2019s mobility, McDaniels said. Maye\u2019s ability to learn quickly and not repeat mistakes has helped him thrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve added a lot this year,\u201d McDaniels said, \u201cand I still think we\u2019re just scratching the surface of where this is going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Receiver Stefon Diggs is Maye\u2019s favorite target. The 11th-year pro caught 85 passes for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be that young and be that mature and be able to play at a high level is something I always wanted as a young player,\u201d Diggs said. \u201cHe\u2019s cool with all his teammates. \u2026 If you play football, you know. He has that quarterback mindset, that quarterback energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tight end Hunter Henry said Maye embodies consistency as a person and a player.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a routine, he works really hard, he wants to be great,\u201d said Henry, a 10th-year pro. \u201cHe\u2019s never really satisfied. He just wants to continue to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maye helped lead the Patriots to playoff victories over the Chargers and the Houston Texans before defeating the Denver Broncos, 10-7, in the AFC championship game.<\/p>\n

Containing Maye in the pocket will be a challenge, Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, he can flat out run,\u201d Jones said. \u201cCan\u2019t sleep on his speed. \u2026 When he gets out of the pocket, he\u2019s running, running, running, and he just throws one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patriots defensive lineman Milton Williams played last season for the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles. Maye and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, he said, are similarly selfless.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey never take any credit for anything they did even though they\u2019re both special players,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s all about the team with those guys, and guys respect that and guys go out there and play hard for \u2018em knowing they\u2019re capable of taking games over and winning games in big moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maye appears ready for the moment. He is not thinking about age or experience going into the biggest game of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s winning the game,\u201d he said, \u201cand enjoying the time with my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He would become the fifth second-year quarterback to win the Super Bowl, joining Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberg, Kurt Warner and Russell Wilson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Patriots QB Drake Maye ready for the NFL's biggest stage? - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42917\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Patriots QB Drake Maye ready for the NFL's biggest stage? - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"He would become the fifth second-year quarterback to win the Super Bowl, joining Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberg, Kurt Warner and Russell Wilson.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42917\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T23:29:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/new-england-bau-7.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42917\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42917\",\"name\":\"Is Patriots QB Drake Maye ready for the NFL's biggest stage? 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