Patriots QB Drake Maye
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
November 20, 2024
Q: Drake, what you saw last week from your team, you talked a little bit about post-game. Do you feel like you’re getting closer? What is it that’s holding you back a little bit in the red zone, some aggression, things like that to give you guys an optimal offensive performance?
DM: Yeah, I think we moved the ball well. First of all, the Rams are a good defense, good up front. Obviously, we had some chances, and like I said down there in the red zone, if we just punch it in, I don’t think it was something that they did. I think it’s just on ourselves, whether it’s go the extra effort, or maybe some little things here or there. I think we moved the ball well. Those guys put some good film on tape. At the end of the game we had a chance there, and I put that on myself to go make a play down the stretch. I got the ball in my hands to win the game. You want that scenario, so I think we’re right there. Like I said, it’s being more successful in the red zone. I think we’ve been striving on that and focusing on that. I think maybe in red zone day this week, or just in general, just study it more and put some more effort into it.
Q: Drake, you didn’t play last time the Patriots played the Dolphins. What do you remember about that game, and what did you learn watching it back?
DM: Yeah, I think they fly around. I think every team we play has got a good front. They’re good up front. Calais Campbell’s still making plays, and they said he’s one of the nicest dudes in the league, but he’s still up there trying to take my head off, I’m sure. They’re good in the back end. They’ve got some veteran guys that have played a long time in this league and are good players, and same thing really in the linebacker corps. We’ve got a tall task, but I think it starts with running the football. I think every week, be able to run the football. They’re going to mix up some looks, so just taking what they give me, and be smart protecting the football.
Q: When it comes to leadership and leadership skills specifically, who do you look to as a model? Who’s been an important leader for you over the course of your lifetime?
DM: That’s a good question. An important leader for me in my lifetime?
Q: Either on or off the field, coach, individual.
DM: Yeah, just being around sports, I’ll probably say my dad. Just watching him, not only a leader in the household, but a leader in sports in general. He’s always coached us growing up, and I think the way that he approached forcing me at a young age to get in the huddle, and say something to the team, or break the team down. At a young age, I think my dad introduced me to some things because he played a short stint in the NFL for a little bit. He was with Tampa Bay for a year, but playing in college and playing at a high level, he introduced to his boys about how to lead and what it takes, what you need and what comes of it.
Q: Drake, you’ve gotten a lot of praise for your field vision and your process. I’m curious, from your perspective, when you’re reading a defense, in your head, is it, ‘they’re cover two, they’re cover three?’ Are you just reading space and leverage, or how are you seeing the defense and what’s really going through your head?
DM: Yeah, I think that kind of comes natural. I think you always try to check the safety structure. I think that helps any type of quarterback, but I think the best thing is just spatial reasoning. Like you said, seeing the space or seeing the guy, and that also comes with feeling the guy out. Just kind of seeing how the route is run, and I think that comes with time. Hunter [Henry] may be doing this against this coverage, or maybe versus man. I think just feeling out the guys and seeing how they run routes versus different man and zone, and also just getting reps at it. I think that’s the biggest thing.
Q: How much more complex is the post-snap stuff at this level compared to what you saw at North Carolina, and how has that been coming to you?
DM: Yeah, I think defense coordinators, they try to do the same type of stuff post-snap, and I think the guys up front make it a little tougher post-snap. In the NFL, I think you feel a little more pressure, feel a little more heat, and obviously the guys in the back end are better, tighter coverage. I think the same type of stuff of fire zones, blitz zones, and bringing five, bringing six, or dropping guys out. I think the amount of tighter windows and maybe a little more heat you feel up front.
Q: Drake, as someone as naturally as talented as you are, you have a strong arm, you can obviously run around. How have you learned the discipline of letting plays go or not trying to force them, understanding sometimes those lead to turnovers or sacks, and living to see another day is sometimes the best play?
DM: Yeah, I think I’ve got to do a better job of that. I think you mentioned it. It may sometimes be throwing the ball away as the best play or even an incompletion. I think at times you saw Jacoby [Brissett] do a great job of that, of just throwing it in the dirt. Even taking a short sack is what we talk about in the quarterback room. I think T.C. [McCartney] does a great job of those little things, those little reminders that can go a long way of knowing when to do things situationally. I talked about the one in Tennessee, where it’s the third down and we’re at midfield. We got a chance to pin him deep on a punt and throw an interception. It causes a short field for the defense. Little things like that you grow and learn and try not to replicate those mistakes.
Q: Is there a way to practice that or rehearse it?
DM: Yeah, it’s tough. It’s tough in practice to just run in plays on first and second down plays. I don’t think you really get the situational part. I think that’s why it’s big for having AVP [Alex Van Pelt] and T.C. I think they’re so great with so many different experiences of talking through, ‘Hey, this is what we do and this is what we want you to do,’ or, ‘This is probably the best thing for our football team at this standpoint.’ Jacoby’s great in-game reminding me, ‘Hey, it’s not bad here to think this,’ or little things like that.
Q: Why do you feel your team has done pretty well offensively at the starts of games? Recently, you’ve been very good in the first quarter, generating points on most of the drives in the last few games. Why has that been so good?
DM: I think it’s credit to AVP and the guys of knowing the first initial calls. I think we studied that hard on Friday and Saturday of knowing, ‘Hey, this is the first plays coming out of the ball game and this is what we’re expecting.’ I think the guys have really responded well. I think early on in the year, guys lost focus on those, whether the first 10 or 15 or 20 plays, and then we had them up on the call sheet. Guys know what they’re expecting, or sometimes it doesn’t really all come off of the play sheet. I think the guys have done a good job of studying that up and really focusing on it.
Q: When you change your arm, when you’re rolling right, when you drop down to side-arm, you switch hands, is that a conscious act? Is that instinctive? Where does that ability to do that, to have the ball on target, on time, come from?
DM: Yeah, just instinctive, really. I think some of it probably is like, ‘what is he doing out there,’ trying to throw away passes and little stuff like that. That’s just instinctive. I think just from growing up, playing with the ball in the backyard or little things, just playing different sports. Like I said, changing the arm angle and playing dodgeball or who knows what. I think some of it just comes instinctively and just out there playing ball.
Q: Drake, adding on to my earlier question, Kyle Rudolph mentioned how when he was playing with [Tom] Brady, he was different from other quarterbacks because instead of running to a specific depth, he’d say, ‘hey, if you’re in space, give me your eyes so you’re available.’ Is that how you process? Or as a young guy, are you trying to stick more to the details, or is there some balance?
DM: That’s what I’m telling Hunter. Hunter and those guys on the field, sometimes you’re just going out there and playing football. I think, sometimes, these guys get into running the route that’s on the sheet of paper or at this depth. I think, at some point, it just turns into playing ball and making plays. I think we’re trying to figure that out a little bit. I think Hunter and those guys are starting to see it. I think last week on the play coming back on a penalty, what Hunter did sitting in the zone, and little thoughts like that. I think you’re going to start to see a lot of strides in that area with different guys moving around and getting comfortable in their spot. You can see some evolution of different things that will help us make some more plays.
Q: We’ve seen you targeting Hunter a lot. He’s become a very reliable receiver. What is it about him that makes it so easy for you to go to him at any moment?
DM: Yeah. First off, he’s scored like 30 or 40 touchdowns in this league, so he’s had a lot of success. He’s done it with a guy with Phillip [Rivers] in San Diego. Then he was in L.A. with [Justin] Herbert, some guys that have done it at a high level. He’s seen a lot of different looks, and he helps with lining guys up in the huddle. He’s just a true vet. He’s one of the best players on our football team, so I’m trying to get him the football.
Q: You said sometimes just going out there and playing football. How have you learned that as you’ve gone about your NFL career to start that, even though it’s the most complicated game at this level, that, ‘hey, sometimes it comes down to simply playing football?’
DM: Yeah, don’t lose it. I think the big thing about football is that I think football is easy and people are complicated, and people try to complicate it. I think the best thing to do at the end of the day is simplify it, and try to make it simple and be on the same page. I think we’re learning that and feeling our way through that. There’s probably some things that I’ve done in this season that is probably out of the ordinary, or maybe I’m trying to think this guy may do something that ends up being a negative play. I think down the road, it’s going to end up leading to some bigger plays for us.
Q: Hunter just told us he sees a lot of similarities between you and a young Herbert. Has he ever talked with you about those days in playing with Justin?
DM: Yeah, I asked Hunter a bunch of questions. I think Hunter’s a wealth of knowledge, him, Jacoby, [Austin] Hooper, David [Andrews] and guys like that, that are just on the offense, that veteran side. He always talks about Herbert. I remember his first start, I think Hunter said he was real nervous coming out there in the huddle, and maybe threw his first one in the stands, kind of like I did in my first one against the Texans. Other than that, I think just his arm talent. He’s a great player in this league, but I think Hunter is just a classic example of me trying to soak up information and try to feed one of our best players the football.
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