We can talk all we want about Drake Maye needing to take better care of himself. Throw the damn ball away. Slide. Get out of bounds. Stop risking your head and the rest of your body to try and pick up an extra yard, or on some of these sacks, lose a yard or two less.
Maye is a fast learner in just about every aspect. Not just from last year to this year, but from week-to-week, and in some of these games, series-to-series. Yet despite everyone — coaches, players, fans — harping on it, Maye found himself in the blue medical tent on Sunday, being checked for a concussion for the fourth time in his brief NFL career.
“Certainly, we addressed what we think the right thing to do is,” Josh McDaniels told us this week. “He’s a competitive guy. I think certainly making sure he’s available to the team is a priority. He’s got to balance doing the things that help us make really good plays in those situations because he’s an athletic guy who’s going to make some things happen when he runs versus making sure he protects himself in the end.
“Certainly, he’s seen them, too. It’s about making a good decision in the moment each time we do it. Really, that’s a good way for the quarterback to put the team first in that situation, just remind yourself, ‘if I’m not out here, I can’t really help us win.’ We’ll address it, but I think he knows.”
Oh, he knows. But when you're 23 years old, there is an air of invincibility about you, especially when you're 6'4", 230ish pounds, and are one hell of an athlete. Surrendering on a play, even if it's to keep himself safe, goes against Maye's competitive DNA.
"Yeah, I think it does, but it doesn't when you start to get hit and you start to wake up the next morning," he said. "So, you're starting to know what it's like with playing – I give all the credit to those guys playing in the trenches: the linebackers, the O-linemen, D-linemen getting up the next day after you're getting hit over and over and playing in the real war. I get the easy part back there. So no, I don't think it's – I'm competitive and want to make the most out of every play, but also got to be smart over that."
This won't be an easy switch for Maye flip, and based on what we've seen so far, I suspect it won't be the last time we see the Pats quarterback putting himself — and the fortunes of this offense/team — at risk. This is life with a dynamic, mobile, young signal-caller, and we're all just going to have to wrap our heads around it, at least for now.
OWNER FINDS A FALL GUY
I don't know who coined the phrase "the fish rots from the head down," but whoever it was must have had Woody Johnson in mind.
The Jets owner, whose team has been struggling for so long that they don't know any better, took a blowtorch to the team's inefficient starting quarterback, Justin Fields, and in the process, made a bad situation 10 times worse.
"The offense is just not clicking," Johnson said at the fall's owners meetings earlier this week. "You can't run the ball if you can't pass the ball. That's football 101."
Johnson initially declined to answer questions, then fielded seven minutes' worth. Most of the conversation centered on beleaguered first-year head coach Aaron Glenn, who is off to a 0-7 start. But Johnson couldn't help but crush the journeyman signal caller.
"It's hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he's got. I mean, he has ability, but something just is not jiving. ... You have to play consistently at that position, and that's what we're going to try to do for the remainder of the season."
Fields, who got a two-year deal that guaranteed him $30 million (can make up to $40 million), claimed he was unaware of the comments that went viral the day before.
"It doesn't bother me, it doesn't," Fields said. "Of course, everybody knows I need to play better; we need to play better as a team. No matter how the offense does as a unit, I'm going to get the blame, and I understand that. That's just what comes with the job. It's what comes with it, so you can't let anything kind of affect your mind, my mind. That is what it is, no matter if it's him, no matter if it's family members, even teammates sometimes.
"There's going to be times where you have to be the only one who believes in yourself. Like I said, that's his opinion. Like I told you guys after the game on Sunday, I'm at peace and all my focus right now is working each and every day and getting better."
Fields was benched for the second half of Sunday's loss to the Panthers. Tyrod Taylor took his place, but is dealing with a knee injury - no surprise for the 36-year-old - and is day-to-day. Glenn refused to name a starter, wondering why he would give this week's opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals, a competitive advantage. But based on how teammates have responded to Fields, and the fact that they haven't scored an offensive touchdown in two weeks, it seems likely that Taylor will get the nod. That would obviously fuel the discussion that the owner is influencing football decisions, but Glenn dismissed that.
"Woody leaves that all up to me," he said.
Over the last two games, Fields has completed 51.7% of his passes for 91 yards and zero TDs. He's also been sacked a dozen times in six quarters.
COMING OR GOING?
This Raiders season is not going as planned. In hiring Pete Carroll and trading for veteran quarterback Geno Smith, Vegas signaled a win-now (ish) mentality. Instead, the team is 2-5, and rumors are swirling around several of its players, including star Maxx Crosby.
The 28-year-old was very vocal about his disdain for losing and a potential rebuild a year ago.
“I’m not here to rebuild; I’m here to win,” he said. “I don’t know, whatever that means, I’m here to win now. Wherever I’m going to be, I’m going to be here to win. That’s all that matters to me.”
The Raiders promised Crosby the times they were a-changin', and tried to signal that with the Carroll/Smith moves. But now, they've felt compelled to meet with their star defensive end and tell him they have no plans to move him.
Meanwhile, Jakobi Meyers' request for a trade, one he made in the summer, has not changed, even though he hasn't made it a thing each and every week.
"[The Raiders] know how I feel," Meyers said. "It's no reason for me to keep going back crying to them, 'Can you get me out of here?'
"If you move me, you move me. But in the meantime, I got some real people that I care about next to me, so I'm trying to make sure I'm being my best self for them."
Meyers is not having the same kind of season he had in 2024, when he hauled in 87 passes for over 1,000 yards, but he still has 29 catches, tied for the team lead (even after missing last week's game due to an injury). He's in the last year of a three-year, $33 million deal.
REVENGE?
We know Aaron Rodgers has a high opinion of himself. That hasn't changed. But the Steelers quarterback took the high road - or at least tried - when talking about Sunday night's game against the Packers.
"I don't have any animosity toward the organization," Rodgers said. "Obviously, I wish that things had been better in our last year there, but I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization, and this is not a revenge game for me. I'm just excited to see some of those guys and be on 'Sunday Night Football' again."
Rodgers spent the first 18 seasons of his career in Green Bay. He helped the Packers win one title and was a four-time league MVP. But when the organization selected Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 draft. The quarterback eventually forced a trade to the Jets (that didn't exactly pan out) before signing on with Pittsburgh this offseason.
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, maybe," he said while recalling his time in Green Bay. "Have a lot of great memories from my time there. ... I grew up there. I spent 18 years there from (age) 21 to 39, so I'm thankful for my time there.
"Obviously, would've loved to ride off in the sunset after a Super Bowl win, but that's not the way the league goes sometimes, and I knew the writing was on the wall when Jordan was picked, and as a matter of time, I happened to win MVP the first two years he was with us. But I knew at some point there would be a change, and if I wanted to play, it'd probably have to be elsewhere. So I understand the situation. We live and we learn."
Rodgers has the Steelers atop the AFC North with a 4-2 record, throwing for over 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns (just 5 INTs). He's had a QBR over 100 in four of the six games. Meanwhile, Love brings the Packers to town at 4-1-1 with 1,438 yards passing, 10 TDs, and 2 picks.
"He (Rodgers) did a great job just being supportive with him, trying to give him nuggets all the time," Matt LaFleur said, "and I think Jordan leaned into that, and just the mastery that he has of our offense, of the protection schemes that we do, I thought it was great for both people."
NERD NUMBERS
- The Patriots are 1 of 4 teams to average 25+ PPG and allow fewer than 20 PPG in 2025 (also the Rams, Chiefs, and Seahawks); first such season for the Pats since 2021.
- In Week 7, Maye became the 3rd player under the age of 24 with 200+ passing yards and a 100+ passer rating in 6 consecutive games. He joins Patrick Mahomes (7 games in the 2018 MVP season) and Dan Marino (6 games in the 1984 MVP season).
- The Ravens’ 1-5 record is tied for their worst 6-game start in franchise history. Only one team, since the 1970 merger, has made the playoffs after a 1-6 start (1970 Cincinnati).
- The Bears have won 4 consecutive games after starting 0-2 in 2025. That's the first time Chicago has won 4 straight games within a season since Weeks 14-17, 2018. They won the AFC North that year.
- James Cook is averaging 89.5 rush YPG in 2025 (2nd in NFL behind Jonathan Taylor: 99.6). Cook has had sub-90 scrimmage yards and 0 TDs in each of the last 2 games after having 100+ scrimmage yards and 1+ TD in each game from Weeks 1-4.
- Ja'Marr Chase has 26 receptions, 255 receiving yards, and 2 TDs on 35 targets in 2 games since Joe Flacco became the starter. In the four previous games with Jake Browning, Chase had the same number of catches.
- The Texans are the first team in NFL history to lead the NFL in PPG allowed and have a losing record through the first 7 weeks of a season. Houston has the best point differential by any team in a 2-4 (or worse) start in NFL history.
- Christian McCaffrey is the 2nd player in NFL history with 450+ rushing yards and 450+ receiving yards in his first 7 games of a season (also HOF Marshall Faulk in 2000 MVP season). The SF star is also the first player with 130+ carries and 50+ receptions in his first 7 games.