The New England Patriots have struggled a lot to start the 2026 season. Patriots QB Drake Maye has not looked good, playing poorly through the first three games of the year. It appears that scouts around the NFL all share the same concerning opinion about Maye in his third professional season.
NFL writer Ralph Vacchiano asked multiple people around the league about Maye after his rough start to the season. Scouts did not have kind things to say about the third-year quarterback.
“He looks like a rookie, and not a particularly good one,” one AFC scout told Vacchiano. “If he were anyone else, based on those three games, the [coaching] staff would say, ‘He’s just not ready yet.’ But how do you say that about a guy who nearly won MVP?”
This is a shocking development for Maye, who almost won MVP last season. He has 585 passing yards with one touchdowns and six interceptions through three games this year. To make matters worse, Maye already has some incredible bloopers after making some comical mistakes in recent games.
Another scout noted that Maye “looks lost” so far during the 2026 season.
Article Continues Below“His confidence is completely gone, and you can see why,” the scout added, per Vacchiano. “He’s making comical errors — like real rookie stuff. The ball popping out of his hand, lofting it towards tightly covered receivers with no zip on the ball, not seeing any of the coverage in the area and thinking a guy is open, not stepping up in the pocket to avoid the rush, or stepping up into it. It seems like every other decision he makes is wrong.”
Something is clearly wrong with Maye this season, but it is difficult to pinpoint exactly why. Luck could be part of the equation, but Maye's confidence now seems to be gone either way.
Unfortunately, Maye is unlikely to get his confidence back in Week 4 while going up against the NFL's best team.
Patriots at Bills kicks off at 1 p.m. ET from Highmark Stadium in Buffalo.