Patriots QB Drake Maye Transcript 10/22
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
October 22, 2025
Q: How was practice?
DM: Good. Another week. Back to it.
Q: What are you seeing from this Browns defense? It looks like they don’t give up a lot of yards?
DM: They’re really good, they’re really good. Shoot, they’ve got one of the best players in football. They have some young guys that are really good. They play some man, they play tight coverage. They’re probably one of the best cornerback duos we’ll see. When they do mix up zone, they do a good job of getting their eyes on the quarterback and making plays on the football. You see that last week. So, we’ve got a tough challenge, and it’s going to start another game at home. So, it’s going to be good getting back at home, but we know we’ve got a tough challenge.
Q: Just to clarify, the best player you’re referring to is Myles Garrett?
DM: Yeah, Myles Garrett. He’s one of the best players in the league. He’s somebody you’ve got to know where he’s at. A lot of credit to him. He plays hard, he’s disruptive, and he’s good in the run game and the pass game. It’s going to be a tough challenge.
Q: What’s the balance against a guy like that, where you want to play your game, but also the emphasis being to get the ball out on time, and so on?
DM: Just be cognizant of the point of the play, being good in quick game, being good when we are trying to hold it a little longer. Just know the outlets. We talk about outlets, scramble, throwaways and just being smart with the football. They do a good job of going after the football, especially Myles in his career. Just go two hands on it, knowing the outlets and knowing when the play may be over.
Q: Drake, you lead the league in completion percentage through seven weeks. What’s allowed you to be so accurate this season?
DM: You pride yourself on accuracy, trying to be accurate with the football. That’s something that goes just from practice and individual drills. Trying to hit a guy in a spot, on the shoulder, or I think the big thing is trying to be accurate for yards after the catch. There’s sometimes throughout the season where I think I could be better at getting more yards, putting it in better spots for them to run after the catch. Credit to them, they’re making great plays and great plays on the ball, and credit to the guys up front. They’ve been blocking their butts off.
Q: What does playing with the patience mean to you when it comes down to staying in the pocket and deciding when to leave the pocket?
DM: Yeah, I’m trying to get it to those guys that are running the routes or whoever’s open before I go off and run. They’re better runners than I am. But I think it keeps the defense honest. I think it keeps it honest. It’s good on third down to move the chains. Sometimes, defenses, they probably hate when they’ve got everybody covered and you scramble for a first down. So, just trying to know that I can make plays with my feet, but know also that it’s better getting the ball out to those guys who are better runners.
Q: When you went back and watched the film, was there anything you noticed specifically, or do you feel like the coaches are putting more emphasis on sliding a little bit more, considering you did have to leave the game for that concussion protocol?
DM: There’s always emphasis on sliding for me. They’ve said it since the beginning of the year. From last year, taking hits and knowing being out there for the next play is most important. Credit to [Joshua] Dobbs, maybe the play of the day. He came in here, evaded a sack and threw a dime. So, it was good to see that from the blue tent. I was looking through the little top of the blue tent and saw it. But other than that, no, sliding and knowing when to get down and also knowing whether it’s a third down or near the end zone.
Q: Does it go against your natural tendency and trying to make the most out of a play just to get down?
DM: Yeah, I think it does, but it doesn’t when you start to get hit and you start to wake up the next morning. So, you’re starting to know what it’s like with playing – I give all the credit to those guys playing in the trenches: the linebackers, the O-linemen, D-linemen getting up the next day after you’re getting hit over and over and playing in the real war. I get the easy part back there. So no, I don’t think it’s – I’m competitive and want to make the most out of every play, but also got to be smart over that.
Q: How much does trust in the receivers factor into the decision making when you’re throwing some more contested catch throws downfield? Would you be more hesitant to throw those if you didn’t trust the receivers as much?
DM: It just starts from going back to OTAs, going back to 7-on-7’s and OTAs with no pads on. It goes back to training camp, them after practice wanting extra routes. You just build so much trust from me and trust with me, keep on making plays and wanting to run routes after practice. Going up and making plays in practice in 1-on-1, you just build that trust. Then from there, getting to the game, it’s no different. I’m going to give them a ball they can try to go up and get, and they’ve done it time and time again.
Q: From a coverage standpoint, do you notice anything distinct about their disguise or what they’re trying to get you to see when they do disguise?
DM: They do a good job when they’re in man, playing man. They drew up on you, and they do a good job of disguising to this kind of junk Cover-2 look where the deep safety comes in and plays the middle runner. I think he caught a pick last week on it, so they do a good job of making plays out of it. It’s something that you’ve got to be aware of and know when it looks like man, and they go to zone. Throughout all downs, they do a good job of it. So, it’s a great defensive coordinator, and they do a good job.
Q: With the fourth down throw to Pop [DeMario Douglas], when you went back and watched that, just what was it like to kind of see him? What was your reaction to seeing him make that?
DM: Yeah, I remember throwing in the game, and I heard a reaction, a cheer. So, we were at an away game, so I didn’t really know what happened, but I think it was all our fans glad that he caught it. So, I lost him behind one of the linemen, but what a catch. I saw it on the jumbotron. I try not to look up there after the play, but that was a sweet catch. I told him today, ‘Hey, nice catch in the game,’ out there at practice. It reminded me of it. He made a nice grab. So yeah, you never know when you may get the ball. That’s a play that maybe the design wasn’t for him; I saw it really early, maybe saw it too early before he turned his eyes, but what a catch.
Q: Drake, I think they’re second in the league in terms of how quickly they force quarterbacks to throw the football, the Browns are. How do you try to stress them down the field when you know you’ve got to get rid of it quickly? Is that possible in a game like this?
DM: Shoot, you know what they’re like up front. They’re trying to get up the field and get after the quarterback. Them getting to the quarterback, the ball out part of it, probably the team’s wanting to get the ball out fast anyway. So, just knowing with 1-on-1 opportunities and knowing when we do have a little more protection up front to try to take advantage of the down-the-field throws. I think their corners do a good job of sitting on stuff because they know the ball may be out, and their safeties do a good job of getting their eyes back because they’re seeing the rush from their point of view. So yeah, it’s kind of having an even balance of knowing when to take shots and knowing when to move the chains.
Q: You’re obviously a confident guy, and you’ve had a lot of success, but is there any play this season or moment where you’ve surprised yourself at all?
DM: I wouldn’t say that, no. I think you try to replicate what you do in practice. I’m a big believer in practice, and I think that’s one of the biggest things that we’re preaching here is you’ve got to practice well and practice hard. Shoot, I threw an interception to [Elijah] Ponder last week in scout team practice, and just trying to battle adversity. He was a defensive end, dropped out and got me, so just balancing that and moving on from it. Those things will help you grow and help you. Shoot, that may happen in the game, and [you’ve got to] bounce back from it. So, I wouldn’t say you’re really surprised, just keep going and know that those guys around me got me.
Q: What do you do to replicate the idea of getting used to pressure and working in the pocket when it comes to practice? Not so much in the games, or is it just a matter of reps?
DM: Shoot, that’s a good point. I think you can help watch the tape and see, ‘Hey, what are they doing? How’s the pocket looking? Hey, what down is it, and what’s the down and distance? How aggressive are they?’ On third down, we’re about to watch them in third down and see what they like to do. So, just try to learn something from tape and learn the personnel, what those guys like to do. The guys up front are trying to be really good at blocking inside-out. Then from there, in practice, just try to stand in there and maybe take some hits. You may take some hits that maybe in the past couple weeks, I may not have when trying to let one go before taking the hit. Just knowing that, just trying to stand in there and keep delivering even with the guys up front. I know those guys are going to do a good job.
Q: We’ve seen you hit the hole shot in Cover-2 quite a bit this year. What about that throw gives you confidence to keep going after that one?
DM: It’s one of those throws that you try to, you always say, ‘Hey, the hole shot’s open,’ and you look back on film and be like, ‘Man, I should have thrown the hole shot here.’ It’s one of those things when I’m starting to see Cover-2, it’s one of those, ‘Hey, let’s take advantage of it.’ It’s one of the voids in the defense. Growing up, playing a lot of 7-on-7, and they say that 7-on-7 wasn’t great for football, but it’s great for quarterbacks seeing hole shots and throwing hole shots. You’re throwing some pace on it and still getting some arcs. So, I’m glad Mack [Hollins] made a great play. I think it’s becoming more and more of a thing in the league of trying to show different things and go to Cover-2. So, it’s something that I like throwing. It’s one of my favorite throws.
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