There has been speculation that the Patriots could sit Maye against the Bills
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the New England Patriots own the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. If the Pats lose on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills‘ backups, they’ll be the first team to choose a player next April — or have the opportunity to move down the board and pick up a bunch more draft capital from a team that is looking to move up for a quarterback of the future.
The Patriots already have that quarterback in Drake Maye. And between Maye’s brief entry into the concussion protocol last week (he was cleared and re-entered the game), combined with the Patriots’ draft positioning, has led to speculation that they might choose to have Maye sit out the regular-season finale. But head coach Jerod Mayo says that won’t be the case.
“Drake is our starting quarterback,” Mayo said, via The Boston Herald. “If he’s healthy and ready to go, he’ll play.”
That said, we have seen in the recent past that Mayo’s assertions about who will and won’t start a given game cannot necessarily be blindly trusted. He said just last week that Antonio Gibson would start at running back over Rhamondre Stevenson after the latter had issues with fumbling, but Stevenson started anyway and Mayo would explain it only as a coaches’ decision.
Maye is obviously the most important player in the Patriots’ future. He has been playing all season behind a horrific offensive line and with considerably below-average receiving corps, and has still found ways to succeed. Getting him through the season healthy should be New England’s No. 1 priority, with ensuring that they land the draft’s top pick a close second. Don’t be surprised if that means Maye comes down with a mysterious injury at some point this week.
