💥 BREAKING NEWS: Inside the Patriots’ Super Bowl Prep, a “Harmless” Habit Is Doing More Than People Realize ⚡.DH

At first glance, it sounds harmless—almost playful.

Homemade cookies. Banana bread. A little sea salt on top. Just another feel-good detail from a Super Bowl run that has already produced plenty of them.

But inside the New England Patriots’ locker room, one of the most talked-about off-field rituals this season may be doing more than satisfying sweet cravings.

According to backup quarterback Tommy DeVito, the now-viral baking from Drake Maye’s wife, Ann Michael Maye, isn’t just thoughtful—it’s strategic.

And that word changes everything.

Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE ahead of Super Bowl LX, DeVito offered a glimpse into how Ann Michael’s baked goods have quietly become part of the team’s internal rhythm.

Not officially. Not on a whiteboard. But in a way that reflects how tightly tuned this Patriots group has become.

“She’ll always send Drake into the building with stuff,” DeVito explained. “So when we’re in the [offensive linemen’s] room, we’ll dabble a little bit.”

That detail matters.

Because the treats don’t go to the quarterbacks’ room.

Instead, they’re funneled toward the offensive line—the players tasked with keeping the franchise quarterback upright in the biggest moments of the season.

DeVito laughed when pointing out the reasoning behind it, but the logic is unmistakable.

“I think we’re trying to stay cleaner on our diet,” he said. “The O-Line are the ones that are making sure that everybody in that room stays upright, so I don’t blame her for that.”

It’s not nutrition science. It’s culture.

In a league where margins are razor-thin, the Patriots have built a locker room dynamic that feels unusually human.

Ann Michael’s baking—already famous online through her viral series Beyond Bakemas—has become a small but meaningful connective thread between players, rooms, and routines.

And make no mistake: the players notice.

“I’m sort of a cookie fanatic,” DeVito admitted. “She also does banana bread or some kind of bread like that… but everything has been really good that we’ve had.”

His favorite? Simple. Classic. “Chocolate chip. Plain. Straight up,” he said—before noting the sea salt touch that made it even harder to resist.

The moment feels lighthearted, but it reflects something deeper about this Patriots team heading into the Super Bowl. There’s trust.

Buy-in. And a sense that everyone—from stars to backups to families—is pulling in the same direction.

DeVito, now the team’s third-string quarterback, understands that dynamic better than most.

He’s lived the experience of being called upon unexpectedly, famously stepping in and winning games for the New York Giants in 2023. That perspective shapes how he views his current role.

While Ann Michael helps fuel morale and community, DeVito focuses on readiness—both his own and the room’s.

Off the field, he recently partnered with Progressive for its “Backup” campaign, leaning into the identity of being ready when needed.

That mindset showed up even in the strangest of moments this postseason, when DeVito helped a fantasy-football loser run a lemonade stand in freezing Boston weather just one day after the Patriots clinched the AFC title.

“It was like five-degree weather,” he recalled. “People were looking at us crazy.”

The absurdity didn’t bother him. It fit the moment.

Now, the focus narrows to one thing: the Super Bowl.

“We truly believe we’re going to go in and win every game,” DeVito said. “I think we’re peaking at the right time.”

And maybe that belief is reinforced not just by film sessions and practice reps—but by small rituals that remind players they’re supported beyond the field.

Because sometimes, the quiet advantages don’t come from scheme or strength.

Sometimes, they come wrapped in foil, carried into the building by the quarterback—and shared exactly where they’re needed most.