This Sunday, the New England Patriots will look to secure their seventh Super Bowl victory as they take on the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Super Bowl LX. The Patriots’ turnaround has been remarkable this year under new coach Mike Vrabel, and a huge reason for their success has been the progress of second-year quarterback Drake Maye.
May is one of the most important players in the game on Sunday, but rumors have been swirling on the internet that he may be dealing with a shoulder injury. Let’s take a look at the reports and what Maye has had to say about the issue as we get ready for Sunday’s kickoff. Overall, Maye’s Patriots are 4.5-point underdogs with +195 moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. The game total is 45.5 points, with the over/under on Maye’s passing props at 223.5.
Maye’s shoulder injury?
In the AFC Championship game, Maye took some tough hits in the snow during the second half of his team’s win over the Broncos. He didn’t pass for many yards in the second half and completed just 10 of 21 pass attempts for a total of 86 yards in his team’s win.
David J. Chao, who goes by ProFootballDoc on X, came out strongly saying that he was sure that Maye sustained a shoulder injury in that game and said that he was “far more concerned about Maye’s shoulder than Sam Darnold’s oblique.” There were reports that a team doctor also was concerned about the injury, and even Maye’s postgame hug with his wife was analyzed to see if he was favoring his shoulder.
So was there something there or not? Even the Patriots have acknowledged that Maye did sustain an injury, listing him on their injury report. Last week, he did not throw in the portion of team practice open to the media, but no Patriots QBs threw, so that doesn’t necessarily mean that much.
Watching the Practice Reports
This week, Maye has been able to put in full practices all week. While he is on the injury report, he has not been limited at all.
When asked about it repeatedly throughout the week, he’s said that he feels good. On Thursday, Maye said “I’m not trying to lie to you guys when I say I’m feeling great. I’m feeling great, and looking forward to getting out there today. Another day of practice, we got one tomorrow, and feeling pretty good.”
While there is some kind of issue, it doesn’t look like it will impact the game in any significant way.
Could Maye take a hit and re-injure it? Sure, but any player could take a hit on any play and get hurt.
Part of the buzz is a result of the extra time in the new cycle for people to try and find a story, where there really doesn’t appear to be much of one that will impact Sunday’s game.
Overall, the extra week before the Super Bowl should help both Maye’s shoulder and Darnold’s oblique to be close to 100%, and we should get a good matchup without injuries impacting the outcome very much.
