New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is enjoying a tremendous sophomore campaign and is even garnering MVP consideration with the Patriots sitting at 10-2.

However, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is erring on the side of caution when it comes to one thing concerning his star signal-caller: designed runs.

Vrabel is aiming to dial back how much Maye runs the ball the rest of the way, especially with the playoffs just around the corner.

“You kind of want to be careful,” Vrabel told reporters. “Guys are going in concussion protocol left and right. We’ll be willing to do anything to win a football game, but I think just being smart is probably the biggest thing. And we’ve run Drake, and he’s run himself, and we’ve handed it off to the running backs. So it’s just about a good balance of plays that we feel like can help us.”

Maye carried the ball 54 times for 421 yards and a couple of touchdowns in 13 games last season. So far in 2025, the former No. 3 overall pick has already attempted 75 rushes for 307 yards and a pair of scores.

The Patriots don't have to look any further than their Week 13 opponent, the New York Giants, to see the dangers of calling designed runs for quarterbacks, as Giants rookie Jaxson Dart has missed the last two games with a concussion and is still in concussion protocol heading into the Monday night matchup.

Maye suffered a concussion last season and had a concussion scare back in October against the Tennessee Titans, so the University of North Carolina product has certainly experienced his fair share of head trauma already in his young career.

Taking that into consideration, it's very wise for Vrabel to take a more prudent approach with Maye, who leads the NFL in both passing yards (3,130) and completion percentage (71 percent) to go along with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions.

New England is two-and-a-half games in front of the Buffalo Bills for first place in the AFC East and has won nine games in a row. If the season ended today, the Pats would have a first-round bye.

The Patriots have not made the playoffs in four years and have not won a division title since 2019.