Drake Maye has a secret sauce.

His teammates have learned this over time. And something that other football guys have figured out through observation and getting to know each other.

In addition to his rocket arm, his agility and his high football IQ, the Patriots quarterback exudes another special quality that sets him apart from others.

It is an internal drive that is relentless.

While there are athletes who are so naturally gifted that the path to superstardom comes easily to them, there are others who may have skills but need to work hard to achieve greatness.

Maye is the best of both worlds. The newcomer is talented, but also has an inner drive that makes him unwavering in his pursuit of excellence.

Former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer said in a recent Eye on Foxborough that Maye had a “hunger” to be great and be among the best. That’s one of the things that impressed him most about the first-year player.

Several teammates who work with Maye every day shared that sentiment.

Kendrick Bourne said he sees that hunger too. The veteran receiver sees how passionate Maye is about improving. He sees this fighting spirit and determination every day.

“It’s his mindset. I think we should all think that way,” Bourne said. “But he did. He has this fire. Not everyone is a superstar, so I put them in the category with superstar potential. Anyone can be great. But as a superstar, not everyone has that (drive).”

Bourne said Maye shows it in different ways.

“It’s the way he trains, the way he works,” Bourne said. “I think it will get him to that point. All of these properties are present. He checks every box.”

Most superstars check these boxes. You have an inner drive to be the best. It is undeniable.

Tom Brady had that trait. So did Larry Bird and Pedro Martinez, to name just a few local legends. Many of these icons were ambitious, hyper-competitive, and had an unrelenting desire to stand out from the rest.

Although he never played with the GOAT, Bourne drew a parallel to Brady, who was highly motivated to prove his doubters wrong.

“That’s what I see in (Drake). The way he reads and does things shows he has that potential. I can compare him to him,” Bourne said. “Like Tom, Drake has a desire to keep getting better and better. He has the same attitude of always wanting to get better.”

Tight end Austin Hooper had a different term for it. He called it “intrinsic motivation.” It’s in Maye’s nature and DNA to push herself.

“You have to be willing to work when the lights aren’t on,” Hooper said. “It’s easy to want to go to work when everything is going at full speed. But when things don’t go your way, you still have that professionalism, that intrinsic motivation, whatever you want to call it, to move forward.”

Josh Allen, the quarterback Maye will face on Sunday in Buffalo, has a similar sentiment.

Former Patriots star Devin McCourty recalled on the latest Eye on Foxborough podcast that Allen had all the tools to become a superstar: arm talent, athleticism and physicality.

But he still had work to do to bring it all together.

“When you look at the Buffalo Bills and see Josh Allen, where he started, how much talent he had and how everything didn’t add up at first,” McCourty noted. “He had too many turnovers, that was that, that was that. But he seemed like the same guy (as Drake). He just had this competitive nature and wanted to be great. And you can see how he has improved year after year.”

Allen is currently the leading candidate for NFL MVP this year, while Maye is looking to finish his rookie season successfully and push the boundaries in that direction.

“At the end of my career, last year, I thought, ‘Damn, this guy is here, he’s arrived, he owns this department,'” McCourty said of Allen. “And I think Drake Maye has a chance to get to the same level. He’s one of those quarterbacks that has that advantage. I think New England has a guy at quarterback that has the same makeup and wants to get better.”

Part of that edge comes from Maye’s upbringing, growing up as the youngest of four brothers in an athletic family.

McCourty, now an NBC commentator, had a chance to spend some time with the Patriots’ No. 3 overall pick during a production meeting earlier this year. It didn’t take long for me to hear where this inner drive came from.

“It was cool to listen to him talk about his brothers since he was the youngest in the family. His brothers were always kicking his butt, beating him on things and how competitive that made him, trying to live up to everything they had done before him,” McCourty said. “He tried to beat them, he tried to win. So he definitely has that advantage.”

Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said last week that acumen and competitiveness are an important trait for any quarterback, and he was happy to see that in Maye early on. Van Pelt said it’s a trait he’s seen in some other elite quarterbacks he’s worked with in his career.

It’s also part of what he believes helps a quarterback go from good to great.

“There are a lot of good quarterbacks. I think the greatness is in the details,” Van Pelt said. “I think as far as processing goes, to me the big quarterbacks are the fastest processors. They can see the field, they can understand the problems, they can see the space in the field and process it so quickly.

“The other part that I’ve always found with great quarterbacks is competitiveness. Everyone I’ve been with, from (Joe) Montana to (Jim) Kelly, wants to kick your ass with darts or rock paper scissors, it doesn’t matter. Aaron Rogers, same thing.

“So it’s that ability to process. Of course you have to have the skills and then it’s the competitive nature… These guys never want to do anything wrong. They always want to win and that is their drive and their will.”

And Maye has it in spades.

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