How getting dunked on by his brothers prepared Drake Maye for the ‘roller coaster’ of life in the NFL

FOXBOROUGH — The vibe at the New Balance Athletic Center felt totally different than it did last week when Drake Maye was at the podium.

The questions about Maye’s troublesome start and his relationship with coach Mike Vrabel were replaced with ones about how the quarterback managed to turn things around so fast.

In just seven days, the Patriots quarterback went from being the focal point of the discussion about a 29-point blowout loss in Jacksonville to earning AFC player of the week honors for his performance against Buffalo.

Such is life in the NFL when a gifted 24-year-old quarterback is playing in a market like New England.

The confidence that allowed him to bounce back this week, Maye said, was developed during his childhood playing basketball against his brothers. The youngest of four boys, Maye took his share of losses over the years.

“I think [it’s] just playing, growing up with my older brothers,” Maye said. “Talking smack and having something not go your way when you’re talking smack and having to keep talking to my brothers — I think that’s just the mind-set that I’ve had. I think it’s always easy for me to talk crap to my brothers and keep talking and try to have something to back it up and bounce back.”

Advice from his mother also helped him get through those losses, the quarterback said.

“My brother Luke would drive by and dunk one and now it’s my ball and I’ve got to go do something with it,” Maye said. “There were definitely times growing up when I felt like I can’t change. My mom used to say ‘never just take your ball and go home. You’ve got to face it.’”

Keeping the momentum going at home against the Raiders this week is Maye’s next challenge. New England climbed back to .500 with the win against Buffalo, but the Patriots (2-2) can’t afford to take Las Vegas (3-1) lightly.

“Every week is a new week in this league and every team is different with different challenges,” Maye said. “You know that it’s any given week, like I’ve said time and time again, in this league. You’ve got to play good football to end up on the right side of things.”

Vrabel said Maye’s toughness showed up against the Bills. His decision-making was also improved. The Patriots want to recreate the energy they had last week, he said, emphasizing the importance of consistency.

“We have to take the same approach as we did last week and understand how critical and important each week in the National Football League is,” Vrabel said. “It’s a new opponent, but our preparation has to stay the same – our urgency, the energy level. I think that that can certainly carry over to an extent. But it has to translate to practice, and it has to build throughout the week.”

Last Thursday, before the Patriots knocked off the Bills, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Maye is “blessed” in terms of his ability to move on from his mistakes. He spoke about golfing with Maye and marveling at the quarterback’s ability to come back from hitting a bad shot. That mental skill set also applies to football, he said.

“His demeanor, his countenance, his facial expressions, his ability to interject things in team meetings has not changed,” McDaniels said. “I love that about the kid.”

Last week’s performance was an improvement, and wins against rival Buffalo are always welcome in the Patriots’ locker room.

Some of the concerns about Maye’s game have subsided, but he still leads the league in interceptions (7). The Patriots were ahead of Seattle for most of the opener, but threw it away at the end after, he admitted, Maye lost patience. He had three interceptions in the fourth quarter, including one on New England’s final drive.

The Patriots weren’t competitive in the loss to Jacksonville, in part because of issues with Maye’s ball security and decision making.

Perhaps the most alarming miscue of that loss came when Maye tried to hit Efton Chism in the end-zone with a throw off of his back foot. He launched the ball over the outstretched hand of a defender and right to Jacksonville’s Travis Hunter for the cornerback’s first career interception.

Maye had his eyes aimed at the end zone looking for Chism once again late in the fourth quarter last Sunday. He fired another off-balance pass, but this time Chism had a step on his defender and hauled in a magnificent one-handed catch for the go-ahead score.

Same quarterback, same receiver. Just another stop on the roller coaster.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.