After a whirlwind week of leading television show panel debates, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye says he wants to keep his attention on what's happening inside Gillette Stadium, rather than the noise generated around the team.
Maye elicited strong responses from both former Patriots quarterback Cam Newton and Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's 'First Take' last week after admitting on 'WEEI Afternoons' that he didn't know what show Newton was on.
Newton had called the Patriots' success this season, 'fool's gold.' After Maye casually dismissed the debate while on with WEEI, Smith called him a "a liar" for saying he was unaware of Newton's role with ESPN. He later apologized on his Mad Dog Sirius XM show.
Maye weathered the misunderstanding and led the Patriots to their 10th win of the year, even after a wonky start. It sounds as though he learned a valuable lesson in what was, ultimately, a low-stakes media dust-up.
"I think, like I said, I'm just worried about what people in our building, in our organization - people that I hold a lot personal relationships with, on their opinions and value that. So, all that outside stuff, it is what it is," Maye told 'WEEI Afternoons' during his weekly 'Patriots Monday' appearance. "Just got to be careful what I say. Didn't try to mean it disrespectfully."