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Through the first three weeks of the season, one of the surprises has been the play of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.
In his sophomore campaign in 2025, Maye established himself as a top-10 quarterback and arguably the most promising young signal-caller in the league. He was accurate, poised and aggressive as a thrower, helping the Patriots go 14–3 and advance to a Super Bowl as he was named the MVP runner-up.
Though the Patriots reached Super Bowl LX, Maye’s play crumbled during the postseason as he faced four great defenses and dealt with a shoulder injury. The playoffs finished with Maye taking six sacks and throwing two picks in a Super Bowl blowout loss to the Seahawks.
Coming off a rough playoff stretch, the hope was that Maye would return to form as he got healthy again and the Patriots added reinforcements to his supporting cast. Instead, Maye’s poor play has continued three weeks into the season, leading to growing concerns in Foxborough.
Ahead of the Patriots’ Week 4 matchup against the Bills, here are four stats that sum up Maye’s rough start to 2026.
7
The number of times Maye has turned the ball over through three weeks, the most in the league. Six of those turnovers have been interceptions, which also leads the NFL. For comparison, Maye threw just eight picks all of last season (though four more in the playoffs).
What’s perhaps even more concerning than the sheer number of turnovers Maye has committed are the decisions that have led to them. His third interception against the Seahawks came in the red zone when the Patriots had an opportunity to get a game-tying field goal if they couldn’t score a touchdown. Rather than throwing the ball away and settling for a field goal, Maye forced the ballI toward the right side of the end zone. The Patriots’ receivers were completely covered, and the Seahawks intercepted Maye to seal a win.
He similarly made a couple of poor decisions against the Jaguars, including when he targeted Efton Chism III in the red zone in Week 3. Chism was well-covered, and Travis Hunter picked off the pass, costing the Patriots a chance to come up with points. Earlier in the game, Maye lost a fumble when the football slipped out of his hand, a gaffe that seemingly summed up how his season has gone so far.
1
The number of touchdowns Maye has thrown this season, tied for 33rd in the NFL. It’s early and the Patriots have faced good defenses, but the Patriots are simply not scoring enough points, which is especially surprising after Maye threw the third-most touchdown passes (31) in 2025. The Patriots have converted just 1-of-6 red zone trips into touchdowns and averaged 12 points per game, tied for fewest in the league.
Turnovers are never ideal, but it’s possible for offenses to still perform well when their quarterback throws a lot of interceptions, so long as they also score a lot, too. In 2021, the Rams won the Super Bowl in a year that saw Matthew Stafford tie for the league lead in interceptions with 17. Stafford also finished third in the NFL in passing yards (4,886) and second in passing touchdowns (41). In 2024, Baker Mayfield tied for the lead in interceptions with 16, but made up for it by tossing 41 touchdowns and making the playoffs. Josh Allen has finished top-three in interceptions thrown in three different seasons (2021 to ’23) in which the Bills made the playoffs and won a playoff game. He also scored more than 40 total touchdowns in each of those years.
Maye is certainly turning the ball over too much, but he also isn’t rebounding from these turnovers with scoring drives that mitigate some of the mistakes.
42.4
Maye’s passer rating on throws 20 or more yards downfield, per Next Gen Stats, which ranks 28th. Overall he has completed 33.3 of his passes (19th) for 160 yards (8th), no touchdowns and four interceptions on these passes.
In comparison, in 2025 he completed 50% of his passes (3rd) for 825 yards (5th), seven touchdowns (T-8th) and one pick on throws 20 or more yards downfield for a 126.7 passer rating. Maye’s ability to consistently and accurately throw downfield were key parts of what made his play special a season ago. ESPN’s Mike Reiss noted that teams have been using a greater rate of zone and Cover 2 defenses with two deep safeties against Maye this season to help take away the deep ball from him. So far, the strategy has proved effective.
-0.21
Maye’s EPA per play in 2026, which ranks 28th among passers with at least 50 dropbacks, per Sumer Sports. A season ago, his EPA per play was first in the league at 0.23. His success rate has also dropped from 51.4% (3rd) to 43.3% (21st). Not only was Maye an explosive thrower, but he was also remarkably efficient for a second-year quarterback. That has not been the case so far. His completion percentage has also gone down from a league-high 72%, but remains a respectable 63.8%. The lack of efficiency combined with more inaccurate moments such as underthrows and poor decisions have created greater concern over the quarterback play in New England.
17.5%
The percentage of snaps A.J. Brown has been on the field with Maye this season. The Patriots’ main offseason acquisition was trading for Brown, who was slated to become Maye’s top target. Brown sustained an ankle injury in Week 1, and was placed on injured reserve. He still has to miss at least two more games before he is eligible to return.
Without Brown, Maye’s most reliable weapon has been Mack Hollins, who is a nice complementary piece to the receiving core, but not an ideal No. 1 target. With Brown out, the absence of Stefon Diggs is especially notable. Diggs spent one season with the Patriots in 2025 and led the team in receiving with 1,013 yards. He and Maye also combined for the highest completion rate among quarterback-receiver duos, according to Next Gen Stats, with Maye completing 83.3% of his attempts to Diggs. The second-best duo saw Matthew Stafford complete 77.7% of his passes to Puka Nacua. Additionally, the Patriots traded Kayshon Boutte before the season. Though the Patriots’ receiving room was crowded, he made several key plays for Maye, particularly in the postseason.
Maye needs to play better regardless of who his receivers are, but getting Brown back in a few weeks could certainly help the offense produce more.
Maye’s issues seemingly go beyond the box score
Amid Maye’s struggles, there has been renewed speculation regarding whether the shoulder injury he sustained in the playoffs last season has hampered his play. The Patriots placed Maye on the injury report as a full participant with a shoulder injury, though he denied the injury having an impact on his throwing or decision making.
Between the decision making and inefficient play, many are speculating that either confidence and/or the mental side of the game has impacted Maye this season. Coach Mike Vrabel notably said during an appearance on WEEI, “We need to stop trying to choke the life out of every single play. We need to relax. We need to settle in and go play football and not try to force things that aren’t there.”
Maye acknowledged after his three-interception game in Week 1 that he “lost patience” against the Seahawks, which cost them. It’s unclear if a lack of patience or lack of confidence, or a combination of both, has continued to hamper Maye’s play. Either way, the concerns will only grow if Maye is unable to show signs of improvement and cut down on turnovers soon.
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EVA GEITHEIM
Eva Geitheim is an NFL writer at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or rewatching Gilmore Girls.
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