Drake Maye injury update: Patriots QB misses practice for Super Bowl LX with alarming issue

Drake Maye isn’t easing concerns about his status for Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks. On Friday, he missed practice with an illness and a right shoulder injury, according to Ari Meirov.

That update comes after the Patriots quarterback was the subject of injury speculation coming out of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game victory over the Denver Broncos. Despite New England downplaying the situation, David D. Chao, a former NFL team doctor, stated his belief that Maye injured his right throwing shoulder.

Chao expressed his concerns about Maye and how the apparent injury would affect him in Super Bowl LX, doubling down earlier this week after Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel addressed the speculation: “No question #DrakeMaye will play in Super Bowl. Also no question he hurt his right shoulder,” Chao wrote on X.

On the other hand, Vrabel stated he wasn’t willing to dive into potential specifics of the alleged injury: “There’s not a player on our team that’s 100% healthy,” Vrabel said on The Greg Hill Show. “I would imagine we will go through the injury report, and whenever we have to turn that in, we’ll turn it in. But nobody is 100%. This will be our 21st game.”

Continuing, Vrabel then spoke to the New England media, where he was asked directly if Maye hurt his shoulder. He said, “No, I wouldn’t say that anybody hurt anything.”

“This is a sport where there’s gonna be things that come up,” Vrabel added. “We’ll talk about whatever status each player has for the game once we’re required to.”

Regardless, Maye’s status will be closely monitored this week and next, with the Super Bowl set for Sunday, Feb. 8. He and the Patriots are coming off a gutsy win in Denver in what became a blizzard in the second half.

Maye completed just 10-of-21 passes for 86 yards. However, he ran 10 times for 65 yards and a touchdown. Maye ran for the clinching first down in the fourth quarter to send the Patriots back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2018.

It’s been a stellar sophomore campaign for the 2024 No. 3 overall pick. He is a finalist for the AP MVP Award and will become the second-youngest quarterback to start in the Super Bowl behind only Dan Marino.

The Patriots are tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl victories with six. Maye and co. hope to make it seven next weekend.

“The history and everything about it, it’s a new team. It’s a new era,” Maye stated. “I respect and appreciate what the Patriots dynasty did and unfortunately, they didn’t come out with some wins [in Denver]. We changed the narrative and we look forward to bringing our best football to Santa Clara.”

— On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article.