Patriots QB Drake Maye Postgame Transcript 9/27

QB DRAKE MAYE

Can you sum up a little bit how you feel right now, obviously, after a very tough day?
DRAKE MAYE: I think it’s disappointing. You know, I think the ball starts rolling like that, we can’t get out of our own way, can’t get out of my own way personally. So I gotta look myself in the mirror and take this as a turning point. It’s Week 3, and at the same time we gotta get some fuel and realize that what we’re doing out there offensively is unacceptable. It’s been unacceptable for three weeks. So I gotta start with myself and then lead these guys, and we gotta get back after it.

Can you walk us through the turnovers?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah, the first one, Jared [Wilson] happened to be bleeding on his hand, and got the football and (I) was trying to put one to Kyle [Williams]. Slipped out of my hand. Second one down there is just forcing it, trying to give Chis [Efton Chism III] a chance to score and get some momentum going into halftime. And then had a one-on-one match up backside and shouldn’t — probably shouldn’t have thrown it.

The first one you said there was blood on the football.
DRAKE MAYE: Yes.

That caused it to slip?
DRAKE MAYE: I mean, you can say that, but at the same time, I gotta hold on to the football.

Do you feel like you’re not being yourself in the sense of just playing or are you thinking too much, maybe sometimes as to whether or not to throw and hesitant things? What’s kind of going through your mind as you make these mistakes?
DRAKE MAYE: I wouldn’t say hesitant. I think back there seeing and we just gotta make plays. I gotta make throws. We gotta get the right looks. We got penalties and turnovers, and like I said, it’s more beating ourselves. And credit to them. They played way better than we did, speaking defensively compared to us on offense today. And that wasn’t a replication of how we play football in New England.

You said this is a turning point, or you said it needs to be? How do you challenge yourself?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah. It’s a similar scenario at 1-2 last year and we kind of went on a roll, and we got a chance early in the season to put our heads down and work and know that this is an opportunity to band together and realize that the best football that we play is together and realizing that that starts with me with protecting the football and protecting this team, because that’s my job, and I’ve been failing to do that.

Do you feel like you’re seeing it well from back there or do you feel like you’re hesitating?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah. I didn’t think I was hesitating much. I thought we hit some plays, and there’s definitely some plays we wish we had back. That’s every week. No, I wouldn’t say I was hesitant or tucking it early or kind of scrambling out of the pocket early. I felt like the guys up front are battling hard, and we gotta do some things for myself to move the chains.

Physically, the right shoulder just going back to the Super Bowl. Do you feel like that had a lingering effect this season?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah. I like to say when you have that much time off and you get to focus on getting back, that you’re going out there healthy. And you know you’re going to get banged up every now and then, but at the same time a lot of guys are banged up. So looking forward to getting back to playing winning football. That’s the main thing. And knowing that I play a big role in that and taking the bull by its horns.

Does your shoulder feel as good now as it did before that injury?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah. I wouldn’t say there’s a problem with my shoulder. I think there’s times where I think you look back and you look back on the playoff run and that Denver game and when I took the hit to now. I felt good during training camp and continue to let it loose.

What is the biggest differences right now compared to last season?
DRAKE MAYE: I think speaking for offense, I think it’s getting out of my own way as well, personally. I think it’s nothing that I feel like these mistakes that I’m making personally are really them beating us. I think it’s beating myself and realizing that there’s times last year where you gotta flip to the next play and realize that this league will humble you quick and just finding ways for me to step up when I feel like I’m not playing my best and still lead the
team. I think that’s what this position is about, and that’s what as the quarterback of this football team, that it’s my obligation and owning that. And for me it starts with confidence in the guys, and it’s all of us, and it’s particularly with me – my 1/11th is a big part of it.

Confidence is such a big part of being a professional athlete. Where is your confidence level right now in your own game?
DRAKE MAYE: You’d like to say it’s high, but at the same time I’m always going to be confident in myself to make plays. I’ve been confident, and there’s one thing I’m going to go out there and compete. I’m going to leave it all out there, and I know that. And competing comes with being confident, being confident in this league and realizing these mistakes, you gotta bounce back, and at the same time, you gotta eliminate them. The more that we get out of our own way, the more the confidence in myself and this team will build. So that’s something that starts in practice and it starts with me, and it starts with us getting to work this week and we got a big one this week.