Patriots’ Drake Maye gives Super Bowl assurance amid injury concerns

The bright lights of Super Bowl Opening Night can be a lot for a rookie, but New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye looked as cool as the January air in Foxborough. Despite a week of frantic headlines surrounding his right shoulder, the 23-year-old signal-caller had a simple message for the “Patriots Kingdom” on Monday: Relax.

“I’ll be just fine,” Maye told reporters while surrounded by a massive media scrum. “I threw a good bit today, as much as I would in a normal practice, and it felt great.”

The concern wasn’t exactly baseless. Drake Maye landed hard on his throwing shoulder during a 13-yard scramble in the third quarter of the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos. While he finished that contest, he was a non-participant in practice this past Friday due to a combination of shoulder soreness and a late-week illness.

That snowy battle in Denver wasn’t a stat-sheet stuffer for the young star, but it proved his grit. In a gritty 10-7 victory, the New England Patriots leaned on Maye’s legs in blizzard-like conditions. He finished the game with 65 rushing yards and scored the team’s only touchdown on the ground. Through the air, the elements limited him to just 86 passing yards, but he made the plays that mattered to punch New England’s ticket to Levi’s Stadium.

It has been a meteoric rise for the second-year pro. Maye finished the 2025 regular season as a legitimate MVP candidate, leading the league with a 113.5 passer rating and a 72% completion percentage. He racked up 4,394 passing yards and 31 touchdowns, spearheading a historic 10-game turnaround for a franchise that finished 4-13 just a year ago.

If Maye leads the Patriots to a victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, he will become the youngest starting quarterback to ever hoist the Lombardi Trophy at 23 years and 162 days old. Facing Seattle’s top-ranked scoring defense is a tall task, but with his shoulder seemingly back to 100%, Maye looks ready to write the final chapter of a storybook season.

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