Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots dominated their preseason opener against the Washington Commanders to the tune of a 48-18 victory. Despite the lopsided final score and plenty of encouraging football being played at Gillette Stadium on Friday night, not all was perfect for the team of first-year head coach Mike Vrabel.
One of the biggest concerns was the performance of starting quarterback Drake Maye, especially in regards to his ball security. On just his third dropback of the night, on a 3rd-and-7 at the New England 45-yard line, the sophomore passer was pressured from his left. Maye tried to escape the pocket but was eventually chased down by Commanders defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton.
Before getting tackled to the ground, however, Maye attempted to get rid of the football in a last-ditch effort to prevent a loss of yards. The result turned out worse than a sack: the ball slipped out of his right hand for a fumble that was recovered by the defense.
After the game, Mike Vrabel did not mince any words when asked about the play.
“That’s a bad decision,” Vrabel said during his postgame presser. “We’re going to need better from him. I think he knows that. That’s obvious. It wasn’t there. We just have to be able to find a way to get rid of the football or take a sack and punt and play defense. But to the defense’s credit, they forced a field goal that was missed. It was a sudden-change opportunity.”
As Vrabel said, the Commanders were unable to take advantage of the opportunity provided by Maye’s fumble. They went three-and-out and missed a 49-yard field goal to cap off the series.
The Patriots, meanwhile, responded with a touchdown drive to increase their lead to 14-0. That series — an eight-play, 46-yard march — ended when Maye found the end zone himself on a scramble from the 5-yard line. The play was the final one of the quarterback’s night.
It was one that left a bit of a bitter taste in the 23-year-old’s mouth.
“Just can’t do that on my first time out,” Maye said. “Glad we responded well that next drive. At the same time, I’m glad it’s something that I can control. But at the end of the day you just can’t put the defense in that position when games matter, during the season. I told those guys it’s on me, we got to get back out there. Glad I was able to get another series going.”
Fumbles have been a problem for Maye going back to his 2024 rookie season. In 12 games as starter, he fumbled the ball nine times with six ending up as turnovers. While not all of those fall directly on him, they were a problem for a team and offense that operated with little margin of error.
As for his latest fumble on Friday, Maye described it as a play driven by instinct.
“First time I’ve gotten hit since, shoot, back in Week 17. It’s instinctive,”...
