As if losing a Super Bowl wasn’t bad enough, Drake Maye is receiving backlash for something he said during his postgame media availability.

Maye struggled against the Seattle Seahawks until the final moments of the fourth quarter, completing 27-of-43 passes for 295 yards for two touchdowns with two interceptions. He also had a fumble that was recovered by Mike Macdonald’s defense. Overall, it was a night to forget for the New England Patriots quarterback.

There was a lot of chatter about Maye’s health coming into the Super Bowl. He appeared to be favoring his shoulder during the AFC Championship. Well, it turns out that injury may have plagued him in the final game of the season.

Following the Patriots’ 29-13 loss to the Seahawks, Maye told Mark Daniels of Mass Live that he needed to “shoot up his shoulder” prior to kickoff. He didn’t say how limited he was though.

Most NFL fans believe Maye is just using his shoulder injury as an excuse for his poor performance. Truthfully, can you blame them?

“Don’t want to hear it. No excuses. If you say your good to go your good to go period,” one fan said.

“If you have to talk about an injury, you’re making it an excuse,” a second fan wrote.

“I’m sorry but we’re not doing the injury thing,” another fan commented. “If he was good to go he was good to go. Same thing for any player out there.”

Unfortunate history for Drake Maye.

After getting sacked six times by the Seahawks on Sunday night, Maye set a record for the most sacks taken in a single postseason in the Super Bowl era. To make matters worse, he had the sixth lowest EPA per dropback in a Super Bowl since 2000.

“I think that’s the biggest thing about life is you’re going to have times like this. It’s how you bounce back. I think a lot of those guys in that locker room, they’re going to use this as fuel,” Maye said after the game, via CBS News. “I think I would go to war with those guys any time, any day, anywhere. It’s motivation to get back here and not have this feeling, and have what they’re feeling out there.”

At 23 years old, Maye has plenty of time to silence his critics and win a Lombardi Trophy. Make no mistake though, Sunday’s loss will hurt for a while.

This story was originally published by The Spun on Feb 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.