Patriots’ Drake Maye Admits To Having Injection for Injury Before Super Bowl, What Does It Mean?

The shoulder injury Drake Maye originally suffered in the AFC Championship Game may have caused more problems than anyone with the New England Patriots let on leading up Super Bowl 60.

Maye told reporters after Sunday’s 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks that he received an injection in his shoulder prior to kickoff.

“I shot it up, so not much feeling. It was good to go, and it felt all right,” he said.

Asked later if he thought the injury hindered his play, Maye didn’t have an answer for that.

“I think it would be hard to say that. I was feeling good enough to be out there,” he explained. “I wouldn’t put the team in harm’s way to not be myself. Just didn’t make plays tonight.”

Maye suffered the injury in the second half against the Denver Broncos on Jan. 25. The MVP runner-up was limited in practices during the off week leading up to the Super Bowl.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel downplayed the shoulder as an issue leading up to the game. After Maye missed practice on Jan. 30 due to an illness, Vrabel told reporters his quarterback’s shoulder was responding “favorably” to treatment.

Maye was a full participant in New England’s three practices during Super Bowl week. He had no official designation and was removed from the final injury report released on Friday.

Maye did play arguably his two worst games of the season against the Broncos and Seahawks. He went 10-of-21 for 86 yards in the AFC Championship Game, then followed it up with 295 passing yards, two touchdowns, three turnovers in the Super Bowl. He was also sacked six times against Seattle’s defense.

The Broncos game is clouded somewhat by the weather conditions that impacted both teams, but the snow didn’t really start falling until the second half.

There’s no indication that Maye’s injury is a serious issue that will impact his offseason preparations, but he certainly didn’t look as sharp in his last two games as he did for most of the season.