Mike Vrabel put arts-and-crafts skills to test with game ball for Maye

New England Patriots

“He better put it in the quarterback room because I put a lot of time and effort into that thing.”

FOXBOROUGH – Drake Maye had an incredibly efficient performance in New England’s 42-10 romp over the Jets on Sunday.

He posted the highest single-game QBR of all time. He had five touchdowns to five different players by halftime. He completed 19 of his 21 passing attempts and was able to sit by the third quarter.

The performance helped the Patriots seal a perfect 8-0 regular-season road record and earned the second-year quarterback a special game ball from coach Mike Vrabel.

“Oh, it was just a pretty special performance,” Vrabel said. “It’s no secret how I feel about Drake. Again, that was a special game ball. That was one that I had constructed that had a lot of tape and paper, and I did arts and crafts on it.”

“That was all our road wins on the ball that I had taped on there. So, he better bring it in here, and he better put it in the quarterback room because I put a lot of time and effort into that thing.

Vrabel explained that equipment manager Preston “Stick” Rodgers made a game ball that caught his eye after the Patriots won their first three road games.

“Stick had done a nice game ball that had those three games on there, and so then I went back and kind of added on all the other ones,” Vrabel said. “I printed them off and put them on there. So, I’d said the night before, whoever was the player to gain, they got this special game ball.”

The Patriots have embraced being “road warriors” this season, and Maye’s production has been one of the keys to their success. He has completed 168 of his 233 passing attempts (72 percent) on the road this season. Of his 30 touchdowns, 17 have come during road games. His quarterback rating is 120.2 on the road, compared to 105.8 at home. He also has fewer sacks and more rushing yards on the road than at home.

Vrabel said it was fitting that Maye closed out the regular-season road finale the way that he did and was able to capture the special game ball.

“There were a lot of other really good performances and a lot of guys that helped us contribute,” Vrabel said. “But certainly the day that he had and what he’s done so far for us. So, we’ll need a lot of those efforts from him to continue. You guys know that, and I anticipate that to happen.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.