Patriots QB Drake Maye
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
December 11, 2024
Q: Any initial thoughts about Bill Belichick possibly becoming the new head coach at North Carolina?
DM: Yeah, obviously, legendary coach, the success he had here and what a great place Chapel Hill is. Anytime you have a legendary NFL coach going back to college, I think it’s cool. It’s pretty interesting for me. I think it’s not official yet. I think Coach Belichick would love Chapel Hill, and Chapel Hill is a great spot. Like I said, nothing official, but a cool thing for a Hall of Fame coach to go back and coach some college kids.
Q: Do you have any insight on the decision, and have you recruited him with North Carolina blue sweatshirts or anything like that?
DM: Yeah, no contact. Worried about this weekend and got my own games to worry about, but no insider info.
Q: He spent so much time in that Navy blue for the Patriots. Do you think he’ll look good in Carolina blue?
DM: Yeah, I think anybody looks good in Carolina blue. It’s a special color and North Carolina’s got some Navy in it as well.
Q: Drake, you have a lot of friends back there. Do you have any sense of what the locker room might want for their next coach?
DM: Yeah, not really. I haven’t really talked to any of the guys. Most of the guys in my class, they’ll be gone. They’re seniors, so no real rapport with the young guys. I’m sure they’ll be excited. Coach Belichick, defensive mind, he’ll get that defense rolling and it’s a fun spot. I think it’s a great spot, a great coaching job. I can’t blame him. It’s an awesome place.
Q: How was your first bye week? How did you strike the balance between wanting to get away from football and ease up a little bit, but also reflect and try to improve?
DM: Yeah, we were here until Tuesday and got a practice in then. I went home and reset. I still watched football like a fan. I watched some college games. Those conference championships were pretty cool. I watched some NFL games on Sunday, but I really just kept looking on Arizona. You can’t go a week without at least carrying a little preview into what they do. I got back this past weekend and I’m looking forward to getting out there.
Q: What stands out about Arizona’s defense for you?
DM: They fly around. They’re flying around. It’s hard not to see Budda Baker on film. He’s flying around. He’s a great player. They do a lot of different stuff and different fronts. They mix up coverages, play some man and bring all out on you. You’ve got a lot to prepare for and we’ve got a tough challenge.
Q: Obviously you’ve grown, but both Hunter [Henry] and Austin [Hooper] said this week that you taking a sack on that third down, which led to the field goal, was a growing thing for you to not trying to make a big, big play and not turn the ball over. Are you seeing those little things? Are you learning those little things as you go about it, too?
DM: No doubt. I try to emphasize those little things, protecting the football and not putting it in harm’s way to save points. It’s a tough balance because I want to make plays. You want to put seven on the board, especially in the red zone down there. So it’s definitely a tough balance. Defenses in the league are good. Sometimes defense wins the play and find the best answer. The best thing in doing that play is sometimes the best decision for me. Coach T.C. [McCartney] and AVP [Alex Van Pelt] have done a good job in our room of going through those situations and letting me know, ‘Hey, this is a situation in the game on the sideline if we have a timeout’ and some scenarios like into the half stuff. I think the red zone emphasis needs to be fresh.
Q: When you watch those games this weekend, as a fan, just observe them, was there anything in you that said, ‘look, there’s some teams here that have high stakes opportunities, playoff implications, and there’s probably a different level of intensity. The games mean more.’ Did that whet your appetite at all to say, ‘look, we got to get to that point as soon as possible?’
DM: No doubt, especially when you haven’t felt it. I haven’t really experienced a playoff game. You always hear about what it’s been in the past here at the playoff games and the environment here in Gillette, and the advantage of us bringing teams that may not be more accustomed to the cold and the cold weather, and watching Tom [Brady] and those guys duke it out. Those runs they had were special. I think you want that feeling and those guys in the locker room, some of them had it. A lot of us young guys haven’t. I think we’re striving for that and can use these last four games as a challenge and as a step to, ‘Hey, what we have and what we got here on this team and who can help us and who can make some plays?’
Q: For you, does it create urgency going into next year? Do you want to put the pedal to the metal, move as fast as you can and get good with those teams?
DM: I think everybody’s got some urgency. Nobody wants a season like this year again. I think it’s two years in a row of a season like this and you start to worry. I think there’s definitely some urgency. You see it in those guys and you see it especially in the veterans and in me. As a quarterback, there’s an urgency to get to that point and fix these things, work on them, get better and use these last four games as a stepping stool.
Q: What’s the most important thing for you, Drake, over the last four games for regular season? You talked earlier in the year about cutting down on turnovers, dangering the football. Do you have a singular focus moving forward to finish off the year?
DM: I think it’s a great opportunity to continue that next step of leadership. These last four games of being a starting quarterback, it comes with a lot of responsibility. Taking a new step, getting in uncomfortable situations or doing some things in the line of scrimmage, little things like that that can go a long way and getting experiences for the next year. I think any time you’re facing the Bills twice, we’ll see them a lot down the road, I’m sure, and we’ll have a lot of challenges. Any time you face a division opponent like that, get ready for years to come.
Q: Drake, do you ever find as far as communicating that sense of urgency you were just describing to some of your receivers as an opportunity for them, young guys about to go into whether it’s their second year or their third year, like, ‘This is a chance here, four weeks, to build something towards this coming year?’
DM: Oh, for sure. They know that, too. I think they know that. I think those guys see it in their eyes and see it in the way they’re practicing that, ‘Hey, this is a step for me to showcase what I can do.’ For those guys in my class, I think they’re ready for it, and I’m going to give them some chances. It’s on me, too, to give them some chances and not force the ball, but give them some opportunities, go make some plays. You see it in practice, and you just want to see it in the games.
Q: Drake, now that Cole’s [Strange] been working at center on return and going back to the first days of training camp for you adjusting under center, how would you describe the difficulty in that? What are the keys?
DM: Yeah, anytime there’s a new center, just getting the snap. Jacoby [Brissett] always preaches that, get the snap and good feet first. Getting the snap is always different. Getting accustomed to a new center, had a good feel with David [Andrews] throughout camp because he’s a starter, and you want to know he’s going to be in there. When Ben [Brown] came, feel good with Ben under there, knock on wood. I think that’s the biggest thing is just getting accustomed to him. And Cole’s done a nice job of getting acclimated into practice. Took a few snaps from him the other day and just getting that center/quarterback bond. You need that in any football team, and it’s special.
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