Nothing to see here, folks! Drake Maye says he’s all good!
After missing practice on Friday with what Mike Vrabel said was both an illness and shoulder injury, the 23-year-old MVP candidate told the assembled media at Super Bowl Opening Night at the San Jose Convention Center that all is well for him on both fronts.
“Yeah, feeling great,” Maye said when I asked him if he was feeling better after last week’s illness. “Yeah, feeling good. Was out there today, Got an extra day of work in from practicing today. And then from there, look forward to getting back out there the next couple days.”
Maye went on to say that he did eventually attend practice on Friday in a spectator role, but did remain out as players throughout the locker room have been dealing with various illnesses in recent weeks.
Whether it was the sniffles or a stomach bug, the more concerning part of Maye’s designation on the practice report from Friday was the fact that he was still dealing with a shoulder injury - the same one “internet doctors” say he suffered in the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos (14-3) at Mile High.
Neither Maye nor the team has confirmed that to be true, with the second-year QB telling WEEI Afternoons the day after the game that part of what was wrong with his right shoulder was just wear and tear from a long season of football.
Whatever the real reason is, Maye told the media on Monday night that he went through a session at Stanford earlier in the day where he operated the same way he normally would as a passer during an early-in-the-week practice.
“Threw as much as I would have in practice, and felt great,” Maye said at a podium surrounded by hundreds. “Looking forward to getting back out there for Wednesday and Thursday and practice again - and Friday - and get ready to go out there for a normal week of prep.”
A normal week of prep is something Maye is a full week removed from.
After securing the 10-7 win at Denver, the Patriots were forced to stay in Colorado for the night due to a massive snowstorm that hit New England throughout the night on Sunday into Monday afternoon. That meant the team’s normal Monday schedule was pushed to Tuesday, which is typically the team’s off-day.
That meant Tuesday became Wednesday for the team, which led to Thursday becoming Wednesday (do you follow?). And it was during that hump-day-once-removed practice that the media was not shown Maye going through any throwing drills - something that’s completely out of the norm for how their first practice of the week would typically go during the portion of practice open to the media.
While Maye told the media on Thursday that he did end up throwing passes during that practice after the media had departed, antennas were raised.
That then led to the Friday practice that we’ve already covered. But the context of what transpired leading into that Friday practice is what made his absence headline news.
Fast forward three days, and the North Carolina-product was feeling just fine with the biggest game of his life just days away.
In the same way Maye casually brushed off questions about his shoulder and illness, he was proclaiming why he’s a Dunkin’ guy instead of Starbucks and choosing Tupac over Biggie in a battle of east vs. west.
Make no mistake about it - big J journalism was underway, but it was also important for Maye to explain why he’d be honored to be considered a “Masshole” by the fans of Patriots Nation.
If Maye can power through whatever it is that’s ailing him, regardless of how serious it may be, Massholes across the Commonwealth will give him a whole lot more than the distinction of “one of us.”
He’ll be honored forever for gutting it out towards the franchise’s record-setting seventh Lombardi Trophy while becoming the youngest quarterback in NFL history to win on this stage.
That’s worth the pain.
You can hear Kevin Harlan and Kurt Warner on the national radio call of Super Bowl LX on Westwood One. We’ll have that broadcast for you right here on 93.7 WEEI-FM in Boston, and across the WEEI Sports Radio Network in New England.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.