As he has each and every Monday during the football season, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel joined WEEI’s Patriots Monday coverage during Super Week in advance of his team’s biggest game of the year - Super Bowl LX against the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the Seattle Seahawks (14-3).
With the Patriots (14-3) in the midst of a dream season in which they went from four wins under Jerod Mayo in 2024 to now on the precipice of winning the franchise its record-setting seventh Lombardi Trophy, you would think the conversation around the team would mostly revolve around this amazing storybook narrative in-progress.
Instead, it’s all about Drake Maye’s right shoulder.
The 23-year-old quarterback missed practice on Friday after being listed as limited the two days prior. All of this comes in the wake of an AFC Championship Game in which “internet doctors” diagnosed Maye with a shoulder injury after a hit he took against the Broncos (14-3) in the second half at Mile High.
When Vrabel spoke with the media on Friday, he made it clear that part of the reason why Maye missed practice was because of an illness he was battling, going so far as to say that if Maye wasn’t ill, he would have been on the practice field in a limited capacity. It should also be pointed out that Maye missing practice on Friday comes one day after a practice session in which Maye did not throw in front of the media - something that hasn’t happened during non-walkthrough practices that we’re allowed to attend all season.
So when Vrabel hopped on the phone with Greg Hill, Jermaine Wiggins and Ted Johnson, it was only a matter of time before the 50-year-old head coach was going to be asked about the status of his MVP candidate QB.
“Friday, Drake was there in the building, in the meetings, but dealing with an illness,” said Hill. “Can you clear that up for everybody? Because people start reading into everything left and right. Was it more the illness Friday, or more the shoulder? Or just rest here?”
“I think I tried to say this as clearly as I could last week - if he were to practice, he would have been limited on Friday,” said Vrabel. “He was not able to practice because of the illness. So again, we'll work through these things through the week, just like everybody else does. But we're confident that the preparation that's required for each position on our football team will be there by the end of the week, and everybody will be available.”
Monday night brings along Super Bowl Opening Night, which has become the stand-in for what used to be known as Super Bowl Media Day. Hundreds and hundreds of reporters and media types from around the world gather in a convention center, with players and coaches fielding questions ranging from the absurd to the surface level.
Maye’s shoulder is going to come up again in conversation throughout this entire week. His answer to the guys on WEEI is a preview of what we’re going to hear him say the rest of the week.
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com for all the latest on this developing situation.
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.