Drake Maye was choked up after his disappointing Super Bowl performance.
While fielding questions postgame, Maye fought back tears while talking about Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.
“He was the heartbeat, no doubt about that. He’s a big reason why we’re here,” Maye said, pausing multiple times as he was overcome with emotion. “Look forward to my relationship with him for a long time. He’s a great person and hell of a football coach.”
Maye’s Patriots fell to the Seattle Seahawks, 29-13, in Super Bowl 2026 Sunday night, in part due to the second-year quarterback’s struggles against a relentless defense.
Maye finished with a 27-of-43 line for 295 passing yards and two touchdowns, but much of that came in garbage time after Seattle established a three-score lead in the second half.
The Patriots struggled to move the ball through the first three quarters, failing to even score until a touchdown three minutes into the fourth. Maye had a fumble and two interceptions, the second of which was returned by Uchenna Nwosu for a pick 6.
He was also endlessly hounded by the “Dark Side,” the Seahawks’ overwhelming defense, resulting in 11 quarterback hits and six sacks.
“I’d like to go back to the beginning and redo it,” Maye said of his performance.
Maye was also playing with an injured shoulder he suffered in the AFC Championship game two weeks ago, revealing postgame that he got a pain-killing injection in his arm before Sunday’s contest.
He did assure reporters that it was “good to go” and he wasn’t going to blame Sunday’s failures on the injury.
New England never would’ve gotten there without Maye and Vrabel.
Vrabel, the former Tennessee Titans head coach, excelled in his first year with the Patriots. He turned a four-win team into a 14-win juggernaut, then proceeded to guide the team through three playoff games to the Super Bowl.
Maye finished second in the MVP voting — one first-place vote behind Rams signal-caller Matthew Stafford. Maye finished the regular season with 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
But after Sunday’s embarrassment, who knows if or when Maye will return to the big game.
The likes of Dan Marino, Matt Ryan and Donovan McNabb played and lost in the Super Bowl and never made it back.
The 23-year-old Maye hopes his career takes a different path.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
