Mike Vrabel: Drake Maye's leadership can't take a day off

Drake Maye is in his second season as the Patriots' starting quarterback, but he isn't a finished product at this point.

Maye lost a fumble in the team's preseason opener and earned a rebuke from head coach Mike Vrabel when it came to his decision making. During an appearance on WEEI Monday, Vrabel said that such slips are going to happen but that they can't impact Maye's role as a leader of the team.

"The expectation is that he's leading this football team," Vrabel said. That's what the job of the head coach and the quarterback is. That's pretty much how this thing goes. And that he can't take days off. I mean, sometimes the performance isn't going to be extraordinary, but the leadership and the demeanor has to be. And I think he's learning that. I love the fact that he's willing to learn and push and try to do those things to where he's demanding of everybody and making sure that everybody's on the same page."

Maye didn't have a head coach with Vrabel's experience to lean on during his rookie season, but Vrabel's comments on Monday make it clear that he's looking for the quarterback to stand on his own two feet as he continues to grow into the quarterback the Patriots hope he will become.