Mike Reiss Sep 8, 2026, 06:00 AM ET Close Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Navy and neon green colors filled the California air as New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, stung by a crushing Super Bowl LX defeat, stared across the sideline in February. The then-23-year-old, riding the high of his team's improbable Super Bowl run, had come up short in the NFL's biggest game.

"I think about that picture of him standing in the confetti afterwards, looking like he's trying to find Sam Darnold, and that has played in my mind -- trying to avoid that feeling ever again," Patriots quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant recalled. To understand Maye's approach to the upcoming 2026 season, start where the 2025 season ended. Maye was the runner-up for the NFL's Most Valuable Player award in his second NFL season after leading the league in Total QBR (77.1) and completion percentage (72%). But the young quarterback struggled in the postseason with turnovers (8) and sacks (21).

"I've seen a determined guy who if he gets an opportunity at it again, he would like to right a lot of the things that went wrong for him," Grant said. Now, 212 days later, Maye and the Patriots visit the Seahawks to open the 2026 regular season (Wednesday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC). The burning question heading into Week 1: Will he be able to replicate the success he had in 2025? There are some positive signs. Maye will be playing in the same offensive system for the second straight year, something he hasn't had in the NFL. Coaches and teammates have noticed a growth in Maye as a leader and as a voice in team meetings and on the field. This offseason, he has focused on technique, like mastering the initial seconds after the snap to alleviate 2025's sack problem. And after an offseason trade by the Patriots for A.J. Brown, Maye has a true No. 1 receiver.

"I think that people always say flush it. I think it's hard to flush a game like that in our sport," Maye said of the Super Bowl heartbreak. "At the same time, you learn from it, let it motivate you. You always wonder what it's like and I got to feel that. We didn't play our best as a team, especially myself." That's something I can work on to get back, just to try to get to that same spot and be on the right side of it."Second year in Mc Daniels' offense Shortly after players arrived for the voluntary offseason program in late April, veteran tight end Hunter Henry was already looking forward to seeing what Maye could do in 2026."This [offensive] system demands a lot on the quarterback position," Henry said. "It was kind of learning as we [went] throughout the whole [2025] season and you saw what he put out there. To have a whole offseason to build on what he did, I'm excited to see the jump."Maye, under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Josh Mc Daniels and Grant, set or tied four Patriots records in 2025. His 72% completion percentage was an all-time best for a New England QB and the sixth-highest mark in league history. He broke the team record for most games with a 100 or better passer rating with 13, which tied for the second most in NFL history. That included eight games in a row with a 100-plus passer rating, tying Tom Brady's top mark. And Maye's 91.3% completion percentage in a mid-October win over the Titans was an all-time Patriots high for a game. But things took a turn in the playoffs when the Patriots faced four of the NFL's best defenses (Chargers, Texans, Broncos and Seahawks). Maye struggled with turnovers and finished the postseason with a Total QBR of 40.0. Since QBR was introduced in 2006, there have been 61 instances of a quarterback making at least three starts in a single postseason, and Maye's QBR was the third lowest among that group, ahead of only Peyton Manning in his fin...