Patriots QB Drake Maye

PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE

PRESS CONFERENCE

October 18, 2024

 

 

Q: Hey, Drake. We saw you pop up on the injury report Wednesday with a knee issue. Can you tell us when that injury happened and how you’ve been dealing with it?

 

DM: Yeah, I’m feeling good. These last two days, I felt good out there at practice. I’m feeling good now and ready to go for Sunday.

 

Q: Did that happen during the Texans game, or was that at practice?

 

DM: Yeah, I think injuries are something you don’t really try to share with the media. So, just looking forward to Sunday.

 

Q: Drake, what’s your level of excitement? Obviously, this is now your second start and it’s not at Gillette Stadium, but it’s international. What’s your level of excitement going into this game?

 

DM: Yeah, I think it’s pretty cool. I’m pretty excited. Long flight, obviously the red-eye, but we’re here now and here at a pretty sweet spot out here. It’s different, and it’s all new. We’ve heard a lot of fans are over here, fans of the Patriots, so I’m excited to kind of reach that fan base and looking forward to getting around London a little bit. Probably not too much; we came over here on a business trip.

 

Q: Drake, last year when the Patriots went to Germany, Robert Kraft kind of gave a speech to the team talking about how important it is to win on the international stage. These are memorable games for a lot of people. Has a similar message been told to you guys for this game?

 

DM: Yeah. Coach [Jerod] Mayo had mentioned that back at the hotel this morning in the team meeting. If I stand corrected, I don’t think we’ve lost over here in international yet. So, we’re trying to keep that same motto, and hopefully come out here with a win on Sunday.

 

Q: Hi, Drake. We’ve already asked your head coach, but we’re looking for great ambassadors, and what better than yourself for the Patriots. There are a lot of fans here in the U.K. who are yet to have an NFL team that they support and devote their lives to. What is your message for those new fans? Why should they be supporting the Patriots?

 

DM: First off, I think it comes from the team name, New England. I think it’s easy for U.K. fans to be attracted to that. Our colors are pretty sweet; they represent a lot of different things. From there, just kind of the excitement for the team. I think we’re on the come up, and we’ve got a lot of things to look forward to, a lot of bright futures ahead. Shout out to all the fans that are already Patriot fans over here and look forward to having some more.

 

Q: Drake, now in your second week preparing as the starter, how would you say your comfort level has grown?

 

DM: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just being around the huddle. Being around the huddle, getting confidence making play calls, having answers for different stuff and having answers for what the defense is doing against us. I think that’s the biggest thing. Other than that, just trying to get used to preparing. It’s a little different preparing. When we’re international, we have a little different schedule. We’re going through plays and asking questions. That’s the biggest thing: ask questions for AVP [Alex Van Pelt], T.C. [McCartney] or even the receivers: ‘Hey, what do you think on this look?’ and stuff like that. Try to hammer home every little thing and just in case it comes up in the game.

 

Q: Drake, in terms of the opponent you’ve got on Sunday, the Jags [Jaguars] have allowed the second-most passing yards this season. In terms of your debut last week against the Texans, you had 243 yards, 3 touchdowns to three different players. This includes 92 yards to DeMario Douglas. In terms of the defense you’re playing against, the secondary in particular, how confident are you in terms of being able to spread it out to different players, get the ball out quickly and put on a show for the London crowd?

 

DM: Yeah, I think it’ll be fun. I think it’ll be awesome. Hopefully, we’ll get the run game going this week. I think that’s a big emphasis in this league especially, and for our offense. Get the run game going, put up some passing lanes, and like you said, get different guys the football. That’s my job. Find completions. Find completions early. We need to start fast. Coach has been preaching that all week, so that’s our job, and really my job on the offensive side as the quarterback – I touch the ball every play – to get going fast and get these guys going.

 

Q: Just with the time change and stuff like that, have you done anything differently with your routine this week to get used to being over here with the time?

 

DM: No, I think just – they preach hydrate. The biggest thing you can do is take care of your body. Take care of your body the best way. I think now that we’re over here, after practice today, rest up. We came over here, like I said, for a business trip, for a football game. We didn’t come over here to see London, no offense, but we came here for a football game. We’re excited to have different fan bases there and the new fans. But really, it’s just another football game, and we’re getting ready for it.

 

Q: How’s the relationship coming along with the running backs and the wide receivers so far because obviously, you’re very new to the offense at the moment. How’s that relationship going?

 

DM: Yeah, I think that’s something, even though I was a backup, trying to build relationships with those guys – the starters – with the guys out there making plays. I’m just looking forward to getting back out there and hopefully, making some more plays. But those guys are great dudes. It’s just my job to get them into football and watch them make plays.

 

Q: Drake, I know earlier in the week you did say that some of the game planning could change schedule-wise because of it being an international game. How has that changed for you this week?

 

DM: Yeah, I think other than not being able to watch the practice tape right after yesterday – the Thursday practice – because we had to get on the plane. Just trying to catch up on some practice tape yesterday, but really other than that, I think we’re trying to get back on the normal schedule. We’ll have a typical Friday out here today. Same practice schedule, going through different periods, seeing different throws and different circumstances throughout the games that we try to replicate during practice. So, really the same schedule, just probably have to catch up on yesterday’s film. You usually watch that after practice as a quarterback anyway. So, nothing new, but just in a different spot. A lot of new, different things, so just trying to navigate that.

 

Q: Hi, Drake. Is there anything you’ve taken from playing with the North Carolina Tar Heels you’re bringing into being a rookie this year, like being in a new environment? Any little tips you’d give for young athletes?

 

DM: Yeah, I think that’s a great question. For me, coming from college football to the NFL, just try to be the same player that I was in college. I think that’s the biggest thing. Kind of don’t lose sight of the plays that I did make and the player that I was in college just because it’s a new league and maybe some better players out there. Don’t lose sight of the plays that I was making and the fun I had on the college level.

 

Q: I’ve watched a lot of your tape in college coming to the league. You have great touch and velocity on your throws. I think we saw some of that against Texans when faced by pocket pressure. Just in terms of your mechanics, have you had to make any adjustments coming from college to the pro level? Because other rookies have spoken about that in the past.

 

DM: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is trying to get the football out. These D-linemen, these defensive guys and D-coordinators try to get after it. Young quarterbacks are trying to get the ball out and have answers, and not being afraid to check the football down. That’s kind of the biggest thing I’m learning and trying to get better at each and every week is not taking sacks. I took some last week that were on the quarterback. I need to try to help myself and help those guys up front this week going into not taking sacks and trying to get the football to guys out there that can make some plays.

 

Q: My question is about your leadership in the locker room, if there is any change or anything that you have put in place after being on the take-all as a starter?

 

DM: Yeah, I think it’s been my thing not to try to change who I was in the locker room, try to be the same guy. I think a little more is expected of me in the huddle when we’re out there as an offense, being the quarterback, getting the guys going, and getting them going in practice in the huddle. But really, we’ve got captains on this team that do a great job leading these guys. My job is to earn the respect of those guys. As we go down the road, I can kind of build more and more verbally.

 

Q: Wednesday, you made a comment about DeMario Douglas saying, ‘You can’t guard him in a phone booth.’ Was that just a coincidence about coming to London?

 

DM: Yeah, no, that would be a common term that we used growing up with a guy that’s shifty and can make a lot of plays. So, it just happened to be a coincidence, and it’s funny now you say that. So, I’m glad to have Pop [DeMario Douglas] on our side of the football and looking forward to watching him on Sunday.

 

Q: Drake, last week, another rookie quarterback had a big win against the Jags. Anything you can learn from that or take from that game from last night?

 

DM: Yeah, yeah, watching Caleb [Williams], had a big win over the Jags out here and just seeing – I think Caleb made some plays on the move. The biggest thing with him, I thought he made some nice throws. That’s the thing last week that I feel like I had some throws that I wish I had back. I’m just looking forward to – I think Caleb does a nice job of taking the defense gives him, and I think you can see each and every week Caleb’s getting better. I feel like a lot of that will happen with us rookie quarterbacks. So, hopefully, that continues in the trend with me. But as always, I think it’s pretty cool watching the Texans, how they handle Caleb and now watching the Jags, what they did against rookie quarterbacks, it’s good for me watching what they do.

 

 

 

 

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