Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel says he knew what kind of quarterback Drake Maye was, even before coaching him.
Although Maye was a surprise MVP candidate in 2025, Vrabel says he’s not surprised at how well Maye has played, and in fact knowing Maye was special is a big reason he took the job.
“I probably realized that before I got here,” Vrabel said. “It’s a large part of the reason I wanted to be here. There were plays in training camp he made, the accuracy outside the pocket or on the move, the way he plays the position, he has an athletic nature to the way he plays. I think that’s somewhat unique. Everybody has a different skill set, he’s comfortable in the pocket, he has the ability to transfer up in the pocket, to make moves, to make throws off platform and at different angles.”
The Patriots were 4-13 last year in Maye’s rookie season, and although many expected them to improve in Vrabel’s first year, few expected them to be in the Super Bowl. Vrabel is not surprised.
The Seahawks listed rookie safety Nick Emmanwori as limited in Wednesday’s practice with an ankle injury. The pool report revealed the reason.
Emmanwori was injured while defending a pass late in Wednesday’s padded practice, according to pool reporter Kalyn Kahler of ESPN. He walked off the field on his own, with several players attempting to comfort Emmanwori before he left.
The severity of the injury is unknown.
“He had an ankle today,” coach Mike Macdonald told Kahler. “We brought him in to look at it, and we’ll kind of go from here and figure out what are the next steps.”
The Seahawks drafted Emmanwori in the second round, and he is a finalist for defensive rookie of the year. He had three pass breakups in the NFC Championship Game.
Macdonald said in the pool report that Sam Darnold’s limited participation in practice was a part of the plan as he continues to work his way back from an left oblique injury. The quarterback has not had a full practice since injuring his side in a Jan. 15 practice.
“Sam’s right on schedule,” Macdonald told Kahler. “So we’ve had this plan here over the last X amount of weeks, and it varies every day. And today he had a great day, so we’re right on schedule.”
The Patriots installed much of their game plan during practices last week in Foxborough.
However, coach Mike Vrabel told pool reporter Lindsay Jones of The Ringer that his staff saved several elements of that plan to present to players this week. It came at the suggestion of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who is coaching in his 10th Super Bowl as a member of the Patriots’ staff.
“No one has more experience than Josh with this, and he felt like that we needed to do something to keep them engaged and stimulated, so they weren’t looking at some things for the second or third time,” Vrabel said in the pool report.
Team owners Robert and Jonathan Kraft arrived at the team’s practice at Stanford University in Palo Alto accompanied by former Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, the MVP of Super Bowl LIII. Like McDaniels, the Krafts and Edelman are familiar with Super Bowl prep, but it’s all new for most of Vrabel’s squad.
No Patriot remains on the roster from their last Super Bowl, and only five players on the current roster have previous Super Bowl experience.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold had another limited practice on Wednesday.
He has not had a full practice since injuring his left oblique on Jan. 15.
Darnold, though, was not given an injury designation last week for a hypothetical game over the off weekend. He is expected to start in Super Bowl LX.
Every player practiced for the Seahawks on the first official practice of the week.
Left tackle Charles Cross (foot), safety Nick Emmanwori (ankle), offensive tackle Josh Jones (ankle/knee), linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence (rest), fullback Robbie Ouzts (neck), wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (rest) and defensive end Leonard Williams (rest) were limited.
Wide receiver Jake Bobo (hand), linebacker Ernest Jones (chest) safety Julian Love (shoulder), fullback Brady Russell (hand), tight end Eric Saubert (hamstring) and linebacker Drake Thomas (shoulder) were full participants.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has pronounced his right shoulder as “good” all week. The team’s injury report confirms that.
Maye remains on the injury report, but he had a full practice on Wednesday.
He was limited on two reports last week, one of which was an estimate, and then sat out Friday with an illness.
That led the Patriots to list him as questionable to play in a hypothetical game over the off weekend.
Maye said he was not limited in a bonus practice on Monday that did not require an injury report.
Linebacker Robert Spillane (ankle) was the only player who didn’t practice, and linebacker Harold Landry (knee) and offensive tackle Thayer Munford Jr. (knee) were limited.
Defensive lineman Joshua Farmer (hamstring) was a full participant, and wide receiver Mack Hollins (abdomen) has exited the report.
Running back Terrell Jennings (hamstring/cleared concussion protocol) will not return from injured reserve after not being activated before his 21-day practice window expired.
