The Patriots left Week 1 with more than a 13-10 loss to the Seahawks. They left with two different questions hanging over the opener: what happened to Drake Maye in the fourth quarter, and how much did A.J. Brown’s apparent ankle injury change the shape of the offense?
For three quarters, Maye had given New England a workable start. By the time the fourth quarter began, he was 17 of 22 for 127 yards and a touchdown, had not been sacked, and had added 33 rushing yards on four scrambles. The Patriots were still in position to control the game.
Then the final quarter unraveled.
Maye finished the fourth 6 of 11 for 53 yards and three interceptions, a collapse that turned a manageable opener into a missed chance against Seattle. The last sequence said plenty about how the game ended: with 26 seconds left and the Patriots already in field-goal range, Maye threw a desperation heave off his back foot to the end zone.
Afterward, he did not try to soften it.
“It was just unacceptable,” Maye said.
He also pointed to the way the fourth quarter changed for him.
“I just stopped being patient. That was the big thing,” Maye said.
That is the quarterback issue New England has to sort through first. Maye turned 24 on Aug. 30, and the opener showed both sides of that reality: the early efficiency that kept the Patriots on schedule, and the late-game decisions that cost them a chance to leave with a win. The Steelers are next, and the Patriots have 11 days before that game to reset.
But the quarterback problem was not the only thing that changed in the third quarter.
A.J. Brown exited with an apparent ankle injury after going for a big catch and ending up on the ground, grabbing his leg. He left the field on his own power but with a noticeable limp, and was later announced as questionable while still in the medical tent. He eventually walked out of the locker room wearing a boot on his right foot.
That injury matters on its own, separate from Maye’s fourth-quarter mistakes. Brown’s exit came in the middle of a game New England was still trying to manage, and it removed a receiver from the offense at the same time the Patriots were trying to protect a lead. The reported concern is a high ankle sprain that could keep him out for several weeks, and that would leave New England thinner at receiver after trading Kayshon Boutte late in training camp.
The Patriots’ loss was already being framed as a self-inflicted one because of the way the fourth quarter went. Brown’s injury adds another layer to the same opener: not just how the Patriots played, but who they may have available to play with.
That is why the next 11 days matter. New England has time to work on Maye’s decision-making and time to wait on Brown’s status, but those are not the same problem. One is about execution in the final quarter. The other is about availability, and the Patriots may have to answer both before they can make sense of what Week 1 actually revealed.