Rumors of a potential Drake Maye shoulder injury have been circulating due to an assessment from a former NFL doctor. David Chao, who used to be a part of the team for the San Diego Chargers, shared on Monday, January 26, that he believed the Patriots quarterback sustained a minor injury in the third quarter against the Denver Broncos. Since then, he has made several updates to his assessment, particularly if this might impact the quarterback as the Patriots head into Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks. And head coach Mike Vrabel has weighed in on whether Maye is really hurt or not.
Doctor claims Maye hurt his right shoulder in Broncos game
David Chao laid on the case for a possible shoulder injury that Drake Maye sustained during the NFL Conference Championship game on a podcast shared on X (formerly Twitter).
“There’s no question in my mind that Drake Maye injured his right throwing shoulder against the Denver Broncos,” the doctor claimed in the clip. “Of course how bad is the injury remains to be seen. What type of injury, I’m still gathering data.”
Chao believes Maye had some discomfort in the third quarter, grabbing his shoulder a few times after getting tackled by the Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga. While the quarterback managed to pull off one pass two plays later, he says the injury could have been a reason why Maye threw several incomplete passes in the quarter and chose not to throw many passes at that. He writes, “I’m far more concerned about Maye’s shoulder than Sam Darnold’s oblique.”
An NFL injury expert, Jesse Morse, looked into the possible injury further and agreed on X that Maye had sustained some sort of sprain or tear in his shoulder. “Most likely possibilities: posterior capsular sprain or superior/posterior labral tear (10-11 o’clock),” the doctor wrote. “I think he got lucky, and it’s likely a sprain especially since he threw a dime 2 plays later to Mack Hollins.”
That said, Morse believes the quarterback is sore but didn’t significantly dislocate his shoulder.
Vrabel has since been asked to respond to the prognosis from doctors claiming that Maye is allegedly injured. On The Greg Hill Show, he was asked, “Starting yesterday, the internet doctors have seen an issue in Drake Maye’s shoulder following a hit during the AFC Championship Game. Is he 100% healthy today as you guys ready.”
The coach responded by sidestepping the question, “There’s not a player on our team that’s 100% healthy.”
When pressed again on whether Maye is healthy to perform at “a high level,” Vrabel remained tight-lipped. “I imagine we’ll go through the injury report and whenever we have to turn that it, we’ll turn it in,” he said. “But nobody’s 100%. This will be our 21st game.”
The first injury report for the Patriots will be released next week, so we will see if Maye is healthy enough to compete then.
Chao later clarified his initial assessment in a follow-up post on social media and said that whatever alleged injury the 23-year-old sustained, it would not take him out of the upcoming Super Bowl that takes place on Sunday, February 8. “Take a watch/listen and judge for yourself. Nothing inflammatory here, just stating my opinion (and found more evidence that I will show when I can),” the doctor stated. “The right shoulder injury seems real. The possibility of missing #SBLX does not.”
In response to a comment about whether this potential injury would impact Maye’s performance in two weeks’ time, Chao was positive about his outlook. “I believe with the super healing powers of the extra week off, there should be minimal effect (I hope) on his throwing.”
