New England Patriots QB Drake Maye has a shoulder injury. Is head coach Mike Vrabel worried?
The cat is out of the bag.
After being coy about Drake Maye's shoulder injury, the New England Patriots officially announced that the MVP finalist does in fact have a right shoulder ailment.
Is head coach Mike Vrabel worried about Maye's shoulder with the Super Bowl almost here? Not really.
"Not much, I try not to have a whole lot of concern," Vrabel said. "I just want to try to prepare the football team, make sure that everybody's ready, that we all have a plan, not to surprise anybody and make sure that our guys are focusing on the first and second down plan.
"We've tried to map out the week here, week and a half, and not look at the end of it, but focus on what we can do today. Try to learn our opponent and be ready for first and second down."
Maye injured his right shoulder in the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos. He will play in the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks, but Maye may not be 100%.
The Patriots, though, will not stop Maye from running just because he got hurt on a running play.
"Yeah, it's something that we'll have to continue to use, and I think his judgment has been good," Vrabel said. "When you can move the ball down the field and throw it, obviously that's what we would like. And then when it's not there, and it gives us an advantageous look for him to be able to extend plays – we talked about remaining a passer or a thrower, but then there's other times where he's decisive and he's able to go north and south."
The Patriots are one win away from winning the Super Bowl in Maye's second NFL season and in Vrabel's first season as head coach. It's been an incredible turnaround in New England.
Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a star linebacker for the Patriots, could become the first person in NFL history to also win as a head coach for the same franchise.
"I won't win it. It'll be the players that'll win the game," Vrabel said. "I promise you, it won't be me that'll win it, and I promise you that I'll do everything I can, and our staff, to have them ready for the game."
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