FOXBORO — Drake Maye has been a Patriot for less than eight months, and he’s already sick of losing.

So, imagine how bad it is for players who have been around since 2020, thought they were joining a winning franchise and have gone 32-48 in the ensuing years and 7-23 over the last two seasons.

“I think everybody has some urgency,” Maye said Wednesday as the Patriots come out of their bye week with four games left in the season. “Nobody wants a season like this year again. I think it’s two years in a row of a season like this, and you start to worry.

“So I think there’s some urgency. You see it in those guys, and you see the veterans, and just seeing me as a quarterback, there’s some urgency to get to that point, to fix these things or work on them and get better, and use these last four games as a kind of a stepping stool.”

Related Articles

Patriots QB, North Carolina alum Drake Maye enthusiastic about Bill Belichick reports

Patriots rookie WR missing at Wednesday practice before Cardinals game

Patriots activate Cole Strange in series of roster moves

Source: Patriots waive veteran WR with 4 games left

Patriots post-bye week roster breakdown: Who’s exceeded expectations, disappointed

The Patriots are currently 3-10 and are at risk of finishing the season even worse than last year’s 4-13 campaign. There’s not an easily winnable game left on their schedule as they get set to face the 6-7 Cardinals and 10-3 Bills on the road before home games against the 8-5 Chargers and Bills.

The Patriots haven’t won a playoff game since 2018, when they beat the Rams in the Super Bowl. They’ve made the postseason just twice since — once in 2019 with Tom Brady at quarterback in a wild-card round loss to the Titans and again in 2021 when Mac Jones was a rookie when they were demolished by the Bills in the wild-card round.

“You always hear about what it’s been in the past here with the playoff games and the environment here in Gillette. And the advantage of us bringing teams that may not be more accustomed to the cold or the cold weather and watching Tom and those guys duke it out,” Maye said. “And those runs they had were special.

“I think you want that feeling. Those guys in the locker room, some of them had it, but a lot of the young guys haven’t. So I think we’re striving for that and can use these last four games as a challenge and as a step towards, ‘Hey, what do we have? And what we got here on this team, and who can help us, and who can make some plays.”

It’s a worthy discussion not only for head coach Jerod Mayo and executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf but also for Robert and Jonathan Kraft in ownership.

The current expectation among people within the organization is that Mayo will return in 2024. But bright spots have been few and far between in another lost season. Maye is certainly one of them. He’s been the offense’s best player, and he’s getting better by the week.

But Mayo’s specialty is on defense, where he played as a linebacker and worked as a linebacker coach/co-defensive coordinator, and that unit has seen a significant downturn in 2024.

The offense, at least, has shown some growth this season, and they’re coming off their most productive performance of the year, when they gained 422 yards of total offense in a losing effort to the Colts.

Personnel-wise, the Patriots will need somewhere between one and three new starting offensive linemen next season, depending upon how 2022 first-round pick Cole Strange and rookies Layden Robinson and Caedan Wallace perform to close out the season, to join David Andrews and Mike Onwenu. And they need to find some way to bring in a top receiving target, whether that’s through free agency, a trade or the draft. They might actually need two or three new starters at wide receiver depending on how Kayshon Boutte, Kendrick Bourne, DeMario Douglas and rookies Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker play to close out the 2024 slate.

Running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson are under contract for 2025 and beyond, so there is some certainty there.

The Patriots are in good shape with Hunter Henry as their top tight end, but they’ll need to re-sign Austin Hooper or bring in another second option at that position.

Henry is excited to keep working with Maye.

“I’m excited for this week and the next few weeks to continue to build that relationship. Feel like we’ve built a connection, and a lot of aspects just the feel and how he sees things, how I see things,” Henry said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of things that we’ve missed on too that could be big plays. And I think each time something happens, we kind of put that in the bank and remember that. And then when it comes up, the next time, I feel like we’re able to kind of see it a little faster on the same page.

“So I’m excited for that. And then obviously, you know, for the future too. I think know that’s going to be huge.”

If Maye can continue to play at a high level through the rest of the season, then perhaps players from outside the organization will be similarly excited to play with him. It would also help if Mayo and the Patriots can show some life in the final four weeks, regardless of how difficult the schedule looks.