Patriots embarrassed in Jacksonville as Jags rout Pats

The New England Patriots came into Week 3 looking to build on their first win of the season.

Instead, they left Jacksonville with significantly more questions than answers.

The Patriots were blown out 35-6 by the Jaguars on Sunday, dropping New England to 1-2 on the season. While there were problems across the roster, the biggest concern has to be the play of quarterback Drake Maye.

Maye’s turnover issues reached another level against Jacksonville.

The second-year quarterback lost the ball while beginning his throwing motion for a first-half turnover, then threw two more interceptions later in the game. Jacksonville turned those takeaways into 14 points and consistently made New England pay for its mistakes.

After throwing four interceptions through the first two games of the season, Maye now has six through three games.

For some perspective, Maye threw just eight interceptions throughout the entire 2025 regular season.

That doesn't mean the Patriots should suddenly be considering a quarterback change. Mike Vrabel has made it clear that Maye is the centerpiece of what New England is building, and one disastrous afternoon doesn't change that.

But it does mean the quarterback needs to get this cleaned up quickly.

Maye was also sacked three times against Jacksonville and struggled to generate much offensively as the Patriots found themselves in an early hole. With the game out of reach, Vrabel eventually pulled Maye and turned to Tommy DeVito.

It was the type of afternoon where very little went right for the Patriots.

The defense couldn't consistently get off the field, the offense couldn't protect the football and Jacksonville repeatedly took advantage of New England's mistakes.

Trevor Lawrence, meanwhile, didn't have to do anything spectacular.

Lawrence completed 19 of 29 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Bhayshul Tuten carried the ball 15 times for 73 yards. The Jaguars essentially took what the Patriots gave them and waited for New England to make another mistake.

There was one particularly strange moment involving Lawrence in the fourth quarter.

The Jaguars quarterback broke free on a scramble with a clear path to the end zone, only to take a knee just outside the goal line. With more than eight minutes remaining, it wasn't as though Jacksonville was simply trying to run out the clock.

Tuten scored on the very next play anyway.

That was about as complicated as things got for Jacksonville.

For the Patriots, the issues are considerably more serious.

A team that entered the season with Super Bowl expectations is now 1-2 and heading to Buffalo next weekend. Starting the season 1-3 would put even more pressure on a team that already has plenty of questions to answer.

Most importantly, Maye needs to answer them.

The Patriots can live with an occasional mistake from their young quarterback. They can't continue giving away possessions and points at the rate they did Sunday.

Maye showed last season that he is capable of being the franchise quarterback New England believes he can be. But through three games, the turnover problem has become impossible to ignore.

The Patriots now head into one of their toughest games of the season against the Bills.

If Maye is going to get the Patriots back on track, there probably isn't a better time to start than next Sunday in Buffalo.