Patriots QB Drake Maye Transcript 10/28
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
October 28, 2026
Q: What kind of challenges does this Dolphins defense present?
DM: Yeah, first off, I think they’re really buying into the new coaching regime, and I know they’re playing good football, to be honest. Especially defensively, they do a lot of different things, variety-wise. They’ve got young guys. They’ve got a mix of some veterans. They’ve got some guys that we’ve seen in the past that are good players, No. 92 [Zach Sieler] up front, No. 44 on the edge, Chop [Robinson]. I know they’re creating some havoc, and they’ve got some young rookies in the middle, and obviously, [Jordyn] Brooks has been a great player in this league, has led the league in tackles. So, they’ve got some good pieces, and they’re playing together, and they’ve also played a tough schedule against some tough offenses. So, I think we’ve got a tough challenge, and we know we’re going down there on the road, a place that we’ve played at. But, we’re battling the heat, so I know we’ve got to put our best foot forward and get back to it.
Q: What have you learned, those two times you’ve played down there, on how to manage and combat the heat?
DM: Yeah, I played down there in college, too. Same type of deal. They put us in the sun side, as they should, try to get the shade, so just knowing that you’ve got to hydrate throughout the week. You’ve got to be careful with your body. Try to start now and not try to wait until the night before or during game day. Then from there, just knowing that you’ve got to feel something a little bit extra. It’s not super late in the season where we’ve been battling the cold for a while up here, so not a huge change in temperature, but still it’s definitely a factor with the humidity. I grew up in the south, so I’m a little more used to it, but I’m a New England guy now. But knowing that you’ve got to battle that, especially the guys that run a lot more, or me, running after a scramble, doing the play call, little things that kind of catch you off guard. You’ve just got to be thinking ahead and knowing that you may battle that.
Q: Drake, how do you make sure that guys don’t read too much into the record in this situation?
DM: Like I just said, they’ve played a tough schedule. They’ve played a lot of people close as well, played some tough offenses, some good teams. So, I know that it’s the NFL. Every week, you can’t come in here and act like the record means something. I think Coach [Mike Vrabel] was able to just mention to us that this morning in the team meeting. That’s not the NFL. It’s any given week, and everybody’s got good players that can play. Especially when you’re on the road, you’ve got to bring your best ball.
Q: When you scramble, how do you try to communicate with the receivers when you get on the move, how to get open and how to help you guys?
DM: I think it’s an ongoing process with learning the guy that’s in the scramble drill. I think one of the biggest things is that you want a deep element, an intermediate element and an outlet that you can throw to, and also me running is another chance. But the best thing I liked about our guys lately, they’ve been getting their eyes back to me. I think that’s the biggest thing. Make sure they’re looking for the ball, trying to see space, and not trying to run into the same area. I think usually when you’re trying to go one way, you either try to settle or work to the sideline. I think oftentimes you get in trouble when you’re trying to work back across the field, away from where I’m going. So, the guys have got a great feel for it. I always tell them to try to come back to the football and keep coming back to it. Even if you’re running downhill and you end up with a 3-yard catch, it’s better than throwing it away. So, I think those guys got a good feel for it, and I’m trying my best to try to hang in there and keep my eyes downfield when it’s a good pocket and go make plays when I feel like I can.
Q: Drake, is it something you can practice like that or is it hard to simulate?
DM: I think it’s 100% something you can practice. I think it’s hard when you’re trying to play on time and throughout practice trying to hit passing game looks. But every now and then you get out there, and the scout team does a good job of covering something up. I try to get outside in the red zone or maybe on third down and try to make something happen. I think it’s hard to replicate it. Also, at the same time, in training camp you can kind of build it. Really, game reps are another great place. You learn from game reps.
Q: Drake, I noticed that when you take off running, you move the ball from your right arm to your left arm. Is that something instinctive, or something that you do to try to protect the ball?
DM: That’s a really good catch. For some reason, I’m comfortable holding it in my left. I know it’s more natural, probably, as a righty to hold it in my right, but I don’t know. It’s a weird thing. I think practicing ball security drills with both hands is something I’ve been working on and trying to be good with the football. I think that’s the biggest thing, is making sure whichever arm it is, is high and tight. For some reason – it’s like my dad. Growing up, we used to be on a fast break, and he used to get mad at us for dribbling the ball back and forth and not keeping it in one hand. So, something like that that, you don’t even think of it. It’s just instinctive.
Q: How close do you feel like this offense is to being where you want to be?
DM: I think we’re improving. I think we’re growing. We’re battling some injuries. We’re battling some of feeling like we’re there one week, then we’re dipping back down and then battling penalties. The biggest thing is we’re moving the football. We’ve just got to try to finish off drives, get out of our own way penalty-wise and protect the football. That starts with me, protecting the football and realizing that the turnover of the football is going to take away points and knowing that’s huge, especially down in the red zone. So, that’s the biggest thing for me. I think myself and this team are battling penalties, trying to stay on track yards-wise, down and distance. From there, I think just finishing off drives.
Q: How much does it help having two quality tight ends? Not just big bodies as receivers, but also before the snap, being able to simplify things and create advantages?
DM: I’ve been blessed really my whole career since I got here, with Hoop [Austin Hooper] and Hunter [Henry], to have good tight ends. Obviously we lost Hoop, but now Eli’s [Raridon] really grown into a big role. I appreciate being with a young tight end, and not really showing him the ropes, but showing him how I see things and how I’ve learned to see things with Hunter and Hoop back in the day. But really, Hunter’s one of the best things for Eli that you can have in the room. He’s such a veteran presence. He’s a pro. He does everything the right way, and we’ve got a great connection in that room. We’ve got a strong room in the run game and pass game. So, they do a lot for us, and it makes it tough on defense. You can match us in big people and you can try to match us in little people, and we’ll try to run it. So, there’s different things that you can create, and at the same time, they’re great in the passing game.
Q: With Rhamondre [Stevenson], I believe he set a career-high the other day in receiving yards last week. How nice and important is it to have a guy that do both, where you can sit back and hand it off but is also there when you need to pass the ball?
DM: Rhamondre, I told him the other day, he’s one of the best. Even though we only use him on third downs, he’s one of the best third-down backs in the league. The way he can protect, the way he runs routes and the way he’s just fluid. You guys see him making cuts and even having some more chances for him to make plays in the air. I missed him on the time when I ran and scrambled instead, but he’s a mismatch. He can beat you moving side to side and shaking you, and he can go by you. So, he’s tough to deal with, and he’s also smart, so it’s fun to be back there with him.
Q: Drake, you were saying after the Seattle game, the extra time in between made you guys ‘chomping at the bit’ to get back out there. How much of that is the case with coming off of Thursday night?
DM: Yeah, we’re a little more in the flow of the season, so it’s a little more, I wouldn’t say normal, but a little more back into the routine. I think the first game, when you have a break like that on Wednesday, coming from an offseason and training camp, you feel like you want to play more games. I think we’re trying to get back in the flow of things. I don’t know if we have a 1 o’clock game for a while now, so getting the feel for playing a little later in the day. Then from there, we’ve got some road games, some home, and then we’re international. So, we’ve got to take it one week at a time, and knowing that we’re back on the road in a division game, it’s a big chance for us to get going.
Q: It seems like defenses are putting seven or eight guys up at the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped. Do you guys feel like, as a group offensively, you have the answers when teams show you that look?
DM: I think one of the best things about Coach [Josh] McDaniels is that we’ve got a lot of different answers for trying to attack that. I think one of the hardest things is, you try to have an answer for it, and the guys you think are coming aren’t the guys that are coming and the other guys are dropping. So, it’s tough with how many different things defenses can do, how they can drop out these guys, bring these guys, bring the guys up the middle and drop the guys on the edge. So, it’s something you’ve got to challenge every week. You’ve got to have a plan. I’ve got to know, communication-wise, what we want to do offensively. At the end of the day, I think trying to stay in yards where we’re trying to stay out of that, or when you’ve got to have it, moments at the end of the game, third downs or pressure situations, just having an answer. Trust what you’re seeing and go make a play.
Q: You seem to use a lot of the split-back looks when teams want to use pressure on third down. If you can, where exactly did that come from, the idea of it, and how has that helped your maturation process as a quarterback in picking up on those types of pressures?
DM: I think you’re just trying to add an extra hat. Protection-wise, you’re trying to get seven up there that are protected and can still run routes from out of that same idea. So, I think we’re just trying to have answers, trying to mix it up and knowing that you’re not trying to just do it when you feel like pressure is coming. You’ve got to try to battle answers. There’s still pressure beaters for really almost every look unless you bring all nine guys in and let one guy go on a route. They can still add one because they’ve got one extra, and when I’m back there holding the ball, they’ve got 11 on 10. So, it’s always tough to handle. That’s this league. The defensive coordinators are really smart, and defenses are doing a great job of disguising, bringing it, bluffing out of it, and our defense does it the same way. They keep you studying, and you’ve got to have answers fast because that play clock – I feel like I’m looking at it right now – is looking at you.
Q: Drake, when we spoke with A.J. [Brown], he was saying that he’s not making any excuses, that he missed a couple of blocks. I’m wondering how much you look forward to him having one of those signature games and him being able to unleash his talent?
DM: Yeah, I don’t think it’s something that we’re all trying to speak into existence and worry about. He’s a great player for us. He’s confident in himself, he’s got a great attitude and he’s just getting things going. I think he’s had kind of a tough road of battling IR and then coming back and trying to find a flow into things. Then we had a Thursday night game where it’s not a full week of practice, so that was really only our third or fourth practice out there today with him running and getting in the groove of the game plan. So, we’ve got to keep that big picture in mind, knowing that we’ve got full trust in him and he’s going to make plays, and it’s going to be fun to watch him when he does.
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