Drake Maye Blames Blood On His Hand After Fumble

The New England Patriots QB Drake Maye has had a disappointing start to the 2026 campaign after what was a breakout season last year, leading them to the Super Bowl and a 14-3 record.

Maye has yet to have over 210 yards passing in three games this season, and has seven turnovers to accompany just one passing touchdown so far. One of his turnovers was a lost fumble in the 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars this weekend, and he blamed it on having slipped because of blood on the ball.

Patriots center Jared Wilson apparently was bleeding on his hand, according to Maye, and when the QB went back to pass, the ball slipped out of Maye’s hand, which gifted the Jaguars a fumble recovery.

Since the start of last year’s postseason, Maye has been a turnover machine. He has called the Patriots and his own performance unacceptable and was seen crying on the sideline in the blowout loss while having a conversation with head coach Mike Vrabel.

A lot of critics called out Maye and the team last year for not having a hard schedule, and looking a lot better than they actually were on paper. The trip to the Super Bowl shut down some of those remarks, but they did avoid the Denver Broncos’ starting QB Bo Nix in the AFC Championship Game, which raised eyebrows.

The start of this season is brewing those shouts all over again, as their loss last week looked miserable.

If things couldn’t get worse, they head up to Buffalo in an interdivision rivalry next week. The Bills are not a team the Patriots can afford to play worse than their best against, so the team will have to shape up quickly.

Maye is still the man in New England, and he did take accountability along with his fumble excuse, but Boston fans are not easily forgiving, and Maye will need to turn it around quickly if the Patriots want to avoid a disaster backup season to their Super Bowl appearance.