Drake Maye is ‘tired of losing.’ His leadership will be crucial as the Patriots try to change that.

Ask Drake Maye what excites him most about his new teammates in Foxborough this season, and he’ll mention the frustration that comes with enduring one of the worst stretches in Patriots history.

The Patriots have lost 29 of their last 38 games since Jakobi Meyers’s wild attempt at a late lateral burned them in December of 2022.

There have been stumbling, bumbling losses, such as that one in Las Vegas. There have been numerous blowouts, including the 40-7 stomping that the Patriots took against the Chargers last year.

Maye hasn’t been around for all of it. He was a rookie last year, and the previous coaching staff sat him for the first five games. But, the vibes have been persistently bad and he’s glad that his teammates aren’t comfortable with it.

“I think you’ve got guys around here that are tired of losing around here and guys that want to win,” Maye said. “I think that’s what excites me most. Guys want to win around here. I think the past two or three years around here in the past year for me, I can only speak for myself, but I think there’s guys around here that are tired of losing and want to win.”

Maye’s leadership will be crucial at the Patriots try to turn things around. The second-year quarterback is still finding his voice, but he’s also finding ways to take initiative.

He recently gathered some of the Patriots’ skill position players for a throwing session in Charlotte.

“I think it’s something that, you miss those guys for a month, and you just want to get back, get a refresher for them, whether it’s route-wise, play-wise,” Maye said.” I think the most important thing is just bonding together. I think getting the guys together, going out to eat, having some fun, getting some work in. And I think I was glad that those guys, you know, came out and showed up.”

Receiver DeMario Douglas said the session made the receivers feel “closer than ever” to Maye.

“We had a (basketball) hoop in the garage, man we were in there hooping. We played spikeball,” Douglas said. “Stuff like that made us closer. We did extra activities. We were all together on a boat.”

Coach Mike Vrabel said Maye did about “95 percent” of the planning for the trip on his own.

“To be able to plan the travel, the housing, the location, and everything that they were going to do and the places that they were going to do it,” Vrabel said. “So, I think that that’s a large step not to deal with other things in the off-season, in the summer. Getting married and everything like that.

“So, it was important to him. I think that was something that he wanted to do. It was something that he approached me with early on. Something that he was thinking about.”

Vrabel has also pushed Maye. He had Maye set the cadences that the Patriots started their end-of-practice running drills to in the spring. In the latest “Forged in Foxborough” episode, Vrabel was seen telling Maye to talk to his guys.

“I think he does a great job of giving me points where I can improve or points where, hey, maybe do this,” Maye said. “I think he’s also kind of let me go and see where I’m at. And I think it’s kind of a challenge for me to lead this football team and lead this offense.”

Maye is not a rookie anymore. He has a Pro Bowl appearance under his belt as an alternate, but so did Mac Jones after his first season. It will take plenty of work to turn these Patriots into a winner, and it starts with their young quarterback.

“He’s been doing his thing,” Douglas said. “He’s definitely becoming that leader. I feel like this is his team. He brings energy into the facility and on the field. He says nothing but encouraging things. If something goes bad, he does nothing but lift us up.”