FOXBORO — Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt announced Thursday that rookie quarterback Drake Maye will start the season finale Sunday against the Bills.

Maye was listed as limited in practice Wednesday with a right hand injury. Head coach Jerod Mayo said Wednesday that Maye would play if healthy after leaving the door open for multiple possibilities at quarterback during his media appearances Monday.

Van Pelt said Thursday that Maye looked good in practice despite the injury.

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“He’ll be starting the game for sure,” Van Pelt said. “Excited to get him another opportunity. Talked about more opportunities for him to just continue to grow. This gives him an opportunity to play a team we just played two weeks ago, have a good understanding of what they did in our game.”

The Patriots OC also confirmed that the intention is for Maye to play the entire game.

“We’re playing the game to win the game for sure,” Van Pelt said. “We’ll see how it goes from that point. But yes, that’s the intent.”

Some inside the Patriots organization might not have a motivation to win Week 18, since the team currently holds the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Van Pelt, Mayo and defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington could be coaching with their jobs on the line in Week 18, however, so there’s no reason for them to try to lose to a Bills team that will be resting starters with the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs locked up.

With a win, the Patriots could move as far down as No. 4 overall in the draft order.

If the Patriots are picking first overall, it would increase their chances of being able to trade down with a quarterback-needy team and pick up additional draft capital. The Patriots would likely need to stay put at No. 4 overall to take the best player available at a position of need, of which there are many on the current roster.