SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The machine sits in the front corner of the Patriots’ quarterbacks room.
It cost $10,000, one coach guessed.
It has healing powers, one teammate claimed.
Everyone who has made a pilgrimage to use this square box with a clear plastic exterior, small tub on top and mechanical arms and pumps inside, comes away a true believer.
That is, if you’ve even heard about it: the secret weapon fueling Drake Maye’s MVP-caliber season.
“I didn’t know (about) that,” Jaylinn Hawkins said this week.
“No, I haven’t heard about it,” Craig Woodson added. “What is it?”
After three months, the machine remains enough of a secret because, the quarterbacks figure, every Patriots player and coach would flock to have a turn.
“It was a well-kept secret. I hadn’t heard about it for a while,” Patriots left guard Ben Brown said. “And then I heard someone mention it at breakfast one morning, so I had to try it. And it was phenomenal. Delicious.”
Delicious? Allow Ashton Grant, the Patriots quarterbacks coach, to explain.
“Drake bought this very expensive orange juice machine for the room,” Grant said. “It’s a fresh-squeeze juicer, and now it’s like the most popular juice machine in the building.”
Maybe the most popular machine, period. So popular the Patriots contemplated flying it out for Super Bowl week.
“It’s the best thing that’s ever been brought into a locker room that I’ve been around,” Patriots backup quarterback Tommy DeVito said. “Anywhere I go, I will be requesting an orange juice machine, probably from a rookie or a nutritionist or somebody, because it’s just awesome. It’s like a vibe center.”
Head sports dietician Ted Harper installed the machine in early November at Maye’s behest. A day earlier, Maye asked DeVito if he liked orange juice. DeVito said yes, and asked Maye why he wanted to know.
“You’ll see,” he said.
Then, it arrived. And the juice hasn’t stopped flowing since.
“I’ve heard it’s the best orange juice anybody’s ever had,” Pats linebacker Jack Gibbens said.
Maye ordered the machine for a simple reason, according to his starting center and friend, Garrett Bradbury.
“Drake doesn’t drink coffee, he doesn’t drink energy drinks,” Bradbury said. “He likes orange juice.”
Easy enough.
Except the reason behind the machine’s ongoing use and growing popularity has since multiplied. As the Patriots played deeper into flu season, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said coaches and players were inundated with reminders to ward off illness by hydrating and upping their vitamin C intake. So select tight ends, offensive linemen and even defensive assistants began ducking into the quarterbacks room whenever they could for a cold glass.
DeVito was happy to see them swing by, mostly for the camaraderie, but also because he knows the cost of an ill-timed illness. He’s gotten sick every year of his NFL career, regardless of whether he was a starter or backup. But not this season.
“I’ve been drinking that damn orange juice every day,” DeVito said. “And I’ve been good.”
To enjoy the OJ, visitors hit a button on the machine to select how many oranges they first want dispensed down from the tub and into the machine. Oranges are then sliced and squeezed simultaneously, as juice squirts out at the bottom after a few moments. Harper stocks the machine with extra boxes of oranges he’s had to order to keep up with demand.
After Maye had the machine installed in early November, word about the juice’s legendary taste spread fastest within the coaching staff. Outside linebackers coach Mike Smith was the assistant who said it cost around $10,000, and shared Monday the taste is worth every penny.
“I’m thinking, is it that good? And it is. It’s remarkable. It’s just flat-out unbelievable,” Smith said. “Best orange juice I’ve ever had in my life. I feel bad going in there because you always have to have fresh oranges, and I feel like a lot of people are taking advantage of it. So, I only used it once.”
Backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs sits near the machine almost every day, yet he’s never tried it. In fact, Dobbs would prefer never to hear about it again.
“Oh, don’t get me started with that orange juice machine,” Dobbs said. “I’m not an orange juice (person). I’ve never had orange juice before, so I haven’t tried it. Everyone comes in like, ‘Oh, it’s the world’s greatest orange juice, and everything.’ Everyone loves it. OK.”
DeMario Douglas keeps his distance, too. Douglas said he’s a loyal Sunny D customer to the sweet and sugary end. But even he can admit this OJ has captivated teammates and staffers like he wouldn’t believe.
“They say if you’re feeling sick, go get that orange juice,” Douglas said, “and you’re gonna bounce back.”
Last week, Maye was listed on the injury report with a new illness that kept him out of practice on Friday. Two days later, he flew to the Bay Area without issue, and threw his regular number of passes at practice Monday.
His offensive linemen, including Bradbury, use the machine most often after the quarterbacks. Bradbury’s health has been an on-again, off-again issue while he’s fought sickness over the last several weeks.
But in retrospect, the 30-year-old half-jokingly identified why he went under the weather, and why he’s out of the clear now.
“When I found out about the machine, I certainly had (OJ) every day. Then I kind of fell off of it a little bit,” Bradbury said. “And then once I got sick, I was like, ‘I need to get back to the orange juice.’ And I certainly did.”