The New England Patriots appear to have put their turbulent start to the season behind them, stringing together a series of consecutive wins, the latest coming against a divisional rival, the New York Jets. However, turnovers remain one of the team’s biggest weaknesses, an issue Mike Vrabel is looking to address immediately.
“We turn the ball over at a historic rate, and it’s ridiculous,” Vrabel said on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” “It’s an embarrassment.” It’s clear that wins often bring a sense of relief, but they also highlight plenty of areas that still need improvement.
While Drake Maye hasn’t turned the ball over in the past two games, some of his teammates haven’t been as fortunate. Now, it’s up to Vrabel to address this issue throughout the week and continue to minimize the team’s margin for error.
Taking better care of the football
Ball security has been an absolute nightmare for New England through the early stretch of the 2026 season, with the Patriots coughing up 10 total turnovers (including 7 interceptions and 3 lost fumbles) to sit tied near the bottom of the league in giveaways. Drake Maye has absorbed the brunt of those mistakes as the starting quarterback, responsible for the vast majority of those airborne picks as he navigates defensive coverage and works through his progression reads.
DeMario Douglas #3 of the New England Patriots fumbles the ball.
To turn things around and protect their top-10 defense from constantly defending short fields, the Patriots need to radically simplify Maye’s checkdowns, clean up pre-snap execution, and emphasize high-and-tight ball security across the backfield. If they can’t stop gifting opponents free possessions, they’ll keep leaving winnable games on the table.
Key takeaways
- Mike Vrabel called the New England Patriots’ high rate of turnovers “an embarrassment.”
- Drake Maye has gone two consecutive games without turning the ball over.
- The Patriots have committed 10 total turnovers through the early 2026 season.
