A quarterback under siege
The numbers on Drake Maye’s season are hard to look at. One touchdown pass, six interceptions and nine sacks through three games. The New England Patriots (1-2) head into Sunday’s meeting with the unbeaten Buffalo Bills (3-0) fresh off a 35-6 loss to Jacksonville, and Maye has had to answer for it all week.
He insists the beating has not changed how he plays. “It hasn’t affected my decision-making. That’s what makes and breaks play for quarterbacks,” Maye said. His team has not made that easy to prove. The Patriots have eight turnovers, tied for the most in the NFL.
Coach Mike Vrabel tried to put the slump in context. “This is all a part of the journey,” Vrabel said. “When we talked about preparing for the journey, the journey wasn’t always going to be 10 wins in a row.”
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Buffalo smells an opening
Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was blunt about the plan. “You just have to put some pressure on him and hope that the trend continues,” he said. Buffalo does not need much help on offense either. Running back James Cook III has 346 rushing yards, third in the league, and the Bills average 5.2 yards per carry, tied for second.
Bills coach Joe Brady kept his tone respectful, calling it “a week-to-week league” and saying New England “were a great defense last year” and are “a hard team to game-plan for.”
Who is practicing
The Patriots had Christian Gonzalez (shoulder), Morgan Moses (foot) and Christian Barmore (shoulder) sit out Wednesday. Dre’Mont Jones and Eli Raridon came back as limited participants. Buffalo was without Joe Andreessen (knee), Christian Benford (toe), Keon Coleman (ankle) and T.J. Sanders (illness).
Gonzalez and Barmore matter most to a defense that will need every body against Cook and a run game that already ranks near the top of the league.
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