Patriots QB Drake Maye Transcript 12/10
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
December 10, 2025
Q: What’s been your favorite item of Bakemas so far?
DM: Oh geez. Favorite item of Bakemas? Probably yesterday. She [Ann Michael Maye] made some peppermint chocolate chip cookies. That’s probably my favorite.
Q: I know you trained with Philip Rivers a few years ago, right?
DM: Yeah.
Q: What’s your reaction to him coming back?
DM: I think it’s awesome. I think it’s pretty cool. When we were down there – I did draft training in Mobile, and he lives around there somewhere. The biggest thing is he still throws it well. I mean, that was, shoot, two springs ago. So, not the last one, the one before. He was slinging it well. So, what a quarterback, what a competitor. He’s the ultimate competitor. I’m sure he knows the offense well, and I’m sure still slings it great. So, I saw a little bit of his press conference; I thought it was pretty funny, but no, he seems like a great guy. When I was around him, he’s been great to me. So, it’s pretty cool, something like that, whatever happens there, but it’s pretty sweet.
Q: Are you going to be doing this when you’re 44?
DM: Shoot. If I’m moving around a little bit still, I hope so. I’m going to play as long as I can.
Q: We talked to Stef [Stefon Diggs] in the locker room and asked him about being an underdog going into this game. I guess you guys are 1.5-point underdogs. He said, “Good.” What’s your take on that?
DM: Anytime you’re at home and you’re an underdog, it gives you something to play for a little bit. Whatever the underdog and whatever they set the line at, it’s us versus them, regardless. When we put the ball down, it’s going to be 0-0. For 60 minutes, we know we’ve got to play a full game. So, they’ve got some great players over there. They’ve got some great coaches, and they’ve won the division for five years. So, we’ve got something that we need to go take, and we know it’s going to be hard to do, but we’re up for it.
Q: What are your thoughts on the magnitude of the game and what is at stake?
DM: We’ve played them before. This will be my, really, third time playing them. So, it’s a rivalry, really, with Buffalo, and we’ve got them at home this time. So, it’ll be nice to play in front of our home fans. I know they’ll be into it. We’ll get a little, I’m sure, some nice weather for the game, whether it’s snowing, a little bit of rain or some football weather. So, looking forward to that. We know it’s going to be a big challenge, big game. I think the biggest thing is it’s just another Sunday, 1 o’clock, we’re playing. We’re not trying to make it too big, but anytime you have a division opponent, like I said, a little bit extra.
Q: Are you at the point in your career where you face a Josh Allen or an Aaron Rodgers, you look at it and say, ‘That’s a contemporary of mine,’ or do you still sort of look at it as, ‘Oh, that’s a guy I watched growing up and tried to learn from when I was developing as a quarterback?’
DM: I think it’s a little bit of both. You’re playing them as a competitor. When you’re playing against these guys that are the best quarterbacks in the league, you want to compete with them. You want to beat them, and you want to kind of master their level, but at the same time, you still want to take things from them and realize and appreciate what they’re doing for the game, what they’ve done for their careers and the players they are. Josh is one of them. He’s fun to watch, and he’s one of the best, if not the best, in the game right now. So, he’s playing at a really high level, and it’s always fun to watch. He’s been good to me, and I appreciate the relationship he’s built with me.
Q: Your numbers against disguised coverage this year are really, really good. Aside from film study and preparation, what’s driving that?
DM: Just seeing it post-snap. I think that’s one of the biggest things that you heard about from college is disguise in coverage, them flipping the rotation or starting rotation and going back. I think it’s good for me to see it from our defense all of training camp. I remember those days. Our defense does a great job of showing down one side and blitzing two off the other edge, some of the same stuff that Buffalo does. They’re really good disguising, and just trying to see that they’ve got to go to what they’re going to play at the end of the day after the snap. Just trying to play fast, play smart and just do my best to see it post-snap and make a decision.
Q: What’s it been like getting to know Josh McDaniels this year? How much fun are you having with him?
DM: Yeah, it’s been awesome. Like I said the time before, he coaches at a really high level. He understands the game at a really high level. His offense helps the quarterback, helps me do my job. I try to do my best to keep first downs and scoring drives going so I can help him do his job, but he understands the game. He understands defenses, what they try to do. He understands what we have on offense and our players, our personnel, and he uses us to our best ability. It’s been awesome this year, and I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for me. We’ve still got a long way to go, but he’s a joy to be around every day.
Q: Josh was talking about how much you’ve improved throughout the season. Stefon Diggs said that your maturation has been second to none. What do you feel like, from a physical and mental standpoint, you’ve made the biggest improvements this season so far?
DM: Just trying to make the right play. That’s what I’m back there trying to do every time with the football: try to make the right play. I know I haven’t done that every time, and I’ve still put the ball in harm’s way a few times, but my job is to try to protect the football and get it to the guys that are better at running than I am and get us in the right plays. I’m just trying to make the right play and trying to avoid negative ones. So, I think trying to make the right play and not force it downfield, force it downfield when I need to or take a shot when I need to, just balancing that. Finding the balance of staying aggressive, but also protecting the football. That’s what I feel like Coach [Mike] Vrabel preaches, and that’s what he wants from his quarterback. I’m trying to buy into that, and I feel like there’s still areas to improve, but that’s one of the biggest things I’ve tried to work on and buy into is making the right play, taking a chance when I need to and being smart when the play’s dead.
Q: Your thoughts on the fact that you’re leading Pro Bowl voting to this point?
DM: I appreciate the fans. The fans are awesome here. Patriots fans are all over the country. You see it at away games. We travel great. They’ve been great to me. Like I’ve said, they’ve embraced me from the South. A little bit of a Southern accent, not like Will’s [Campbell]. But no, like I’ve said, we try to give them something to cheer for, and they’re doing that. We’re doing our part, and they’ve been showing up. We’re looking forward to another home one in Gillette this weekend.
Q: I know you want to be consistent week after week after week, but do you think, depending on circumstance and stakes, that you’re able to raise the level of your game?
DM: I think the great ones do, and I think I’ve got to continue to try to prove that. I’ve played in maybe one or two prime time matchups or matchups against great quarterbacks or great defenses. So, that’s something I’ve got to continue to prove every week. That’s not something that I can just say – I hope I do. I hope I do every time, but it’s something you’ve got to prove. Go out there and play, and show that to my teammates, show that to this team, show that to this organization. I believe in myself and believe I can do it, but it’s something that you don’t really just – I think you can say you can elevate, but you’ve got to go out there and do it and let others say that about you.
Q: The team posted a video a while back of one of your first squad meetings where Coach Vrabel was laying out the goals for the season. Win the division was at the top. Understanding Buffalo has been at the top of the division for five straight years, how much, if at all this year, have you personally felt like you’re chasing them in that respect to get to your goal?
DM: Yeah, we are chasing them. They’ve had a bullseye on their back for really since they probably took it over the first year. You want to be division champs. Coach said it at the beginning of the year, like you said, ‘Win the division.’ Everybody probably says that around the league in their own first squad meeting, ‘You want to win the division.’ It’s pretty cool how that’s come to reality and we’re here, standing right here with the chance to do that this week. People talk about things down the line and what you can do, but this is a great opportunity for us to go win the division and rack up the AFC East. We know it’s going to be tough, and we’ve got a great team coming in here. It’d be cool to do it on our home turf.
Q: There have been a lot of comparisons between you and Josh [Allen]. How do you feel about comparisons?
DM: I think it just gives you guys something to talk about, something to, ‘Hopefully this guy turns into this guy, if he doesn’t, some other guy or some other thing.’ One of the biggest things Coach Vrabel says is, ‘Don’t try to compare or set expectations.’ But I’m honored. If that comparison is there with Josh, I’m honored to be compared to a guy like him at his level. I think I’m a far long ways away from playing like him, and he’s, like I said, the best in the game. I’m looking forward to another matchup when we meet versus him.
Q: How important is it for you guys to finish the job this week and not prolong it or give them life?
DM: That’s a great question. It’s important. It’s really important to do it here. We’ve got a chance to face them head-to-head. I mean, there’s no better way to win the division than with the team that’s fighting to crawl back and to keep themselves as division champs. So, it’s opportunity for us to do it here, do it versus them and control your own destiny. That’s what we have. We have a chance to do it here, and I know we could do it down the road, but why not do it this weekend at home with a division opponent coming in that plays at a high level. I’m looking forward to being in front of the fans and getting out there with my teammates. It’s fun to play in these types of games. This is what you strap up your helmet and put on the shoulder pads for.
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