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The New England Patriots had a painful Super Bowl Sunday. Nearly nothing went right for the Pats, including for quarterback Drake Maye.
And Maye, who entered the game with an injury to his throwing shoulder, may not have been operating at 100%.
After the game, Maye told reporters that he had received a pain-killing injection for his right shoulder before taking the field.
That certainly suggests that the shoulder was a larger issue than Maye and his head coach Mike Vrabel made it out to be during the week.
Maye was hurt on a tackle in the second half of the AFC title game against the Broncos when his right shoulder was driven into the ground.
He was listed multiple times on the Pats' injury report in the two weeks between that win and the Super Bowl, but by the final injury report, Maye didn't have an injury designation.
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This time of year, football players have to do all kinds of things to get ready to play, so this injection for Maye isn't unusual by any means. It just speaks to a potential explanation for at least some of his struggles.
There were multiple throws Maye made that felt either weak or quite off target.
After the game, Maye didn't place any blame on the injury, saying that he had been "ready to go."
QB Drake Maye acknowledged that he received a pain-killing injection for his right throwing shoulder before Super Bowl LX.
He made it clear he was “ready to go”; at the same time this adds some context to what he was managing injury-wise.
It's too bad for the Patriots that this was the case. Maye was so good all year, and coupled with the bright lights of the biggest game of his life, any kind of ailment to his throwing shoulder just works out to be a bummer.
Maye might get back, or he might not. Nothing is a given when it comes to the Super Bowl.
And on this potentially special night for New England, the Patriots just found pain.
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