In the aftermath of a hard-fought defensive victory, New England's head coach Mike Vrabel found himself guarding something more fragile than a win — the narrative surrounding his young quarterback. Drake Maye, who dazzled the league just a season ago, has stumbled through the early weeks of 2026, and Sunday's 20-3 triumph over Pittsburgh could not fully obscure that truth. A coach's irritation with the press is as old as the game itself, but the questions that provoke it rarely disappear on command — they simply wait for the next Sunday to ask themselves again.