New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye did not practice on Friday.
*DON’T FREAK OUT JUST YET*
New England head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed as much during his media availability on Friday, though he did share that the sophomore signal-caller’s reason for missing practice came down to an illness. Vrabel then provided some significant details during the ensuing couple of minutes.
I’ll just give you the full transcript for all questions relating to Maye:
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Q: How is your quarterback? He was not spotted.
A: He did not practice. It was illness and shoulder.
Q: Is there any more concern for him than what you’ve shown so far?
A: No. No, again we’ve had a lot of guys over the last month, six weeks here with an illness. Again, trying to do what’s best for the player and team, and trying to take care of guys. Don’t spread anything. We’ve worked through that over the last six weeks.
Q: Is Drake at the facility today?
A: He came to work, yeah.
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Q: Is he still here? Did you send him back?
A: I don’t know where he’s at. I think he’s here.
Q: Was he able to participate in meetings and things like that?
A: He was, yes.
Q: How did his shoulder respond after practice yesterday?
A: I would say favorably. It was fine.
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Q: How much did he practice yesterday?
A: However you label “limited.” That’s how much he practiced. It wasn’t full, so if it isn’t full, it has to be down as limited. I don’t know what percentage of normal work, but if you don’t take the normal reps or whatever you normally take — it wasn’t that much.
Q: Was he able to go through any throwing reps (on Thursday)?
A: Yes, on a limited basis.
Q: He would have practiced today, if not for the illness?
A: He would have been at practice today if not for the illness.
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Q: How important is it for him to be out there for as many as these practices as he can?
A: It’s no different than the regular season, practice is important. Things come up. There are other ways to prepare. Today was a lot of carry over from yesterday, just a faster pace and with shoulder pads on.
Q: Did you think to rest him, even if he’s not dealing with an illness?
A: There’s a lot of ways to recover from injury. Treatment. Rest. Sleep. A lot of different ways.
Get it? Got it? Good.
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The Patriots will officially release their injury report around 5 p.m. ET on Friday.
Maye will be listed as a non-participant, though the real concern now is whether or not he’s healthy enough to travel with the team on their charter flight to Santa Clara, Calif. on Sunday. If not, perhaps he’ll be flown out separately in order to get there in time for practices to begin again on Wednesday.
Featured image via Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images
