Count former NFL MVP quarterback Cam Newton among those skeptical of the Patriots' 9-2 start to the 2025 season.
Just don't expect Drake Maye to pay much attention.
On Wednesday, the quarterback responded to Newton's recent comments (in which he compared Maye's Patriots to "fool's gold") with a simple, biting statement.
"I don't even know what show he's on," Maye said, via boston.com. "I think they get paid to make remarks and make certain comments."
Newton took a sharp, dubious sword to New England's reputation when discussing the Patriots' standing atop the AFC East during a recent appearance on ESPN's First Take, keeping his meandering explanation simple in purpose: He just isn't buying what the Patriots are selling.
"It has fool's gold written all over it," Newton said. "Cubic zirconia. Middle of the mall. And yes, is Drake Maye playing good football? ... Absolutely.
"The thing I have a problem with is if you keep playing sorry scrubs ... it has one and done written all over it."
For New England, one and done would still represent a significant turnaround from the dark place in which the franchise had been mired since the end of the Tom Brady era, a period in which Newton himself played quarterback for the Patriots. But these Patriots are not the same team for whom Newton suited up and was eventually benched in favor of Mac Jones.
This Patriots club has rediscovered success by turning back to its winning roots, bringing in coach Mike Vrabel, who built his fame while playing under Bill Belichick in New England, and largely adopting some of the key tenets of the famed Patriot Way.
They applied one -- ignore the outside noise -- when processing Newton's comments.
"I'm just worried about what people in our organization think, and worry about (what) we think and what my teammates think," Maye said. "People are going to have different opinions. I'm just going out there on Sunday and worrying about ourselves."
Vrabel echoed his quarterback, welcoming external doubt while keeping his focus on what he can control: his team's preparation for an upcoming slate that begins Sunday with Cincinnati and then the New York Giants the following week, but also includes a rematch with Buffalo and a date with Baltimore.
"Nothing is weird to me because people can come on the radio, TV, and you know whatever, it's just things that get their attention. We're OK with it," Vrabel said. "I promise you we are OK with it. Anything that anybody says, we are OK with.
"We are going to come to work, we're going to focus on us, we're going to try to improve and we're going to focus on the Bengals and going on the road and try to get our 10th win. That's what we're going to focus on."
That response isn't too far from Belichick's famous "We're on to Cincinnati" reply from 2014.
While the Patriots certainly haven't attempted to replicate the Patriot Way in its entirety, they've clearly benefitted from being led by a coach with plenty of experience gained as both a player and coach and success achieved in both arenas.
Now, that coach is tasked with guiding his team of youngsters through uncharted waters of notoriety. Judging by their response to Newton, they're off to a great start.
