FOXBORO — Two things can be true: Drake Maye has not played up to the standards he set during the regular season through two playoff games, and the Patriots would not have won either postseason game without key second-half plays made by their quarterback against the Chargers and Texans.

Maye is completing 58.9% of his passes for 447 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions, plus 14 carries for 76 yards, through his first two playoff games. Most importantly, however, he’s started his NFL career with a 2-0 record in the postseason.

Most concerning, however, is that Maye has fumbled six times through two games. He’s faced off against two of the best defenses in the league, but he’s preparing to face another daunting unit while traveling to Denver to take on the Broncos.

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Maye said he plans to keep working on avoiding turnovers in practice.

“Be mindful back there and just know that my job is to protect the football, and that’s every game,” Maye said. “I think one of the biggest things with the guys up front is it’s my job to have a timer in my head, and (the offensive line has) done a great job all year.

“So, I haven’t lost trust in those guys up front, and I know that we faced some pretty good edge rushers in the past couple weeks. I know we’ve got another good set of edge rushers coming up this week. So just know, have a feel for it and just protect football because that’s my job.”

Head coach Mike Vrabel said Wednesday that two of the Patriots’ turnovers were due to operation — “we all weren’t on the same page.”

Maye threw an interception on a Hail Mary attempt. He lost one fumble on a busted play when he was forced to rush up the middle and had the ball poked out by Texans defensive tackle Tommy Togiai.

The Patriots’ third turnover came when rookie left tackle Will Campbell was beaten by Texans edge rusher Will Anderson is less than 2.5 seconds. Anderson got his hand on the ball when Maye was rearing back to throw. It would have been difficult for Maye to release it faster, given the situation.

“You could have a negative play if you don’t have everybody on the same page, but even worse, you lose the football,” Vrabel said. “Or if you don’t have somebody on the same page and they blitz, somebody gets hurt. So, those are the things we talk about when we’re not on the same page. So, I think the operation is going to be critical.”

Maye certainly plays a part in ball security. Issues with turnovers early in the season led to two losses to the Raiders and Steelers.

In three losses this season, the Patriots turned the ball over seven times. They turned the ball over just 15 times in their 16 wins, including the postseasons.

“Everybody always focuses on the one person that touched it last,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said of turnovers. “A lot of times, turnovers have more of a team complexion to it than what you may understand just with the naked eye, whether that be protection or somebody finishing a play, or the route concept, and what they saw together in terms of trying to throw the ball accurately and well. So there’s a lot of things that go into it.

“I’d say no matter what we want to talk about, we need to do it a little better than what we’ve done in a few games recently, and certainly it’s been a big thing when we’ve won this year, we’ve really tried to focus on making sure that we take care of the football, and absolutely going to be paramount this week in Denver.”

Maye led the NFL this season in both expected points added (+151.2 EPA) and completion percentage over expected (+9.1% CPOE) this regular season. Both of those metrics have fallen into the negatives this postseason, with Maye ranking 10th among 14 QBs with a -8.5 EPA and sixth with a -2.7% CPOE.

Still, both McDaniels and Vrabel have high hopes for Maye against the Broncos, despite their vaunted defense, which ranks fifth in yards allowed per game, fourth in points per game, and eighth in EPA per play.

“I’m expecting him to play well. I’ve expected him to play well all year, and he hasn’t let us down,” McDaniels said.

McDaniels cautioned it might not be perfect in a game of this magnitude, however.

“I think you realize these games are not going to go just one direction. It’s like a great boxing match. I don’t think either guy leaves the ring at the end of the fight, if it’s a 12-round split decision, when one of them thinks they really got the better of the other,” McDaniels said. “When you’re playing in the playoffs against the best players, the best coaches, the best teams at this time of the year that are playing their best, which is really what this is all about.

“There’s going to be some plays in the game that you’ve got to live through and survive, and you’ve got to come back and play your best football as the game goes on and make enough plays to win, which is all that matters.”

Maye has certainly played his best football when the game matters most in the wild-card and divisional rounds of the playoffs.

Through two playoff games, he’s 17-of-22 for 235 passing yards with two touchdowns in the second half.

“Lead our offense, be the conductor and help us handle the environment,” Vrabel said of his expectations for Maye. “Find as many positive plays as you can. Take care of the football. Own the operation, and then you’re gonna have to make some big time throws. I mean, you’re gonna have to — that’s just kind of how this thing goes.

“No different than what we’ve expected from him the entire season, what we’ve expected of him, and how he’s produced.”

Maye is an MVP finalist for a reason. He doesn’t need to be perfect against the Broncos, but avoiding turnovers will be key in a tight playoff matchup on the road.