Patriots QB Drake Maye Transcript 9/10
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
September 10, 2025
Q: How was practice?
DM: It was good. Good to get back out there. We get on a new week, a new opponent, and I think everybody’s got some energy for a division rival and a division opponent. So, I’m looking forward to getting back out there, and all these guys brought it today. We’ve got some stuff to clean up and look at, but I thought it was a good energy out there today.
Q: What, for you, were the biggest areas of improvement leading into this week?
DM: Just taking the next step. Part of it’s moving on, part of it’s learning from stuff throughout the game. Get off on a better start; the first drive was a three-and-out. We had good field position on that first possession. So, find a way to start faster. That’s kind of a theme for the team, start faster. From there, just some throws I’d like to have back. I feel like I say that every game, but particularly ones where I feel like I had guys open. Down in the red zone, be better down in the red zone where it’s decision making on my part, accuracy or just in general. We’ve got to score touchdowns when we’re down in the red zone.
Q: What’s your comfort level in this offense right now one game in?
DM: We’re building. I felt good reciting the plays, getting out of the huddle and getting in and out of checks out there during the game. So, it felt good to get that in the game’s rep, and I think it’ll continue to get better between me and Coach [Josh McDaniels]. The more we do and the more we’re kind of seeing the same things and stuff we can revert back to in a game setting will always kind of help us going forward. Those guys that were catching the football and blocking up front, I thought they played their butts off, and I think they deserve a lot of credit. I’ve got to do my part.
Q: Drake, do you think the fixes are something that can happen relatively quickly, or is this something that’s going to evolve over the season?
DM: Fixes, meaning?
Q: What needs to happen for the offense to be better.
DM: It’s something we’re working hard to fix this week. We’re going to get back, and it was one game that we wished we would have had and feel like we could have had. But at the same time, I think we’ve got pieces. We’ve got guys that play hard and did a lot of good things on Sunday, so build off that and try to learn from that, and establish the run and build off that. The goal for everybody after Week 1 is trying to assess where they’re at and get back there in Week 2. It’s my job to get us going and like I said, try to start fast. From there, just take what they give me and create positive plays. I think that’s what we’re trying to create, just positive plays. From there, I feel like if we don’t get it our own way, I think we’ll be fine.
Q: Drake, you mentioned there’s some throws you’d like to have back. Was there anything, having watched them again on film, is there anything that was sort of consistent on those throws? Is it a mechanical thing? Is it a recognition thing? Was there a consistent theme on them?
DM: I think just some of them, I was rushing them. I think I see them and kind of rush it to try to get it out to him as quick as I can. The one to Pop [DeMario Douglas], he was getting close to the sideline with kind of a trapped corner there, so I tried to get it out as quickly as I could to him to get the first. But from there, I feel like I’ve been throwing it pretty well and seeing it well. So, I think sometimes there’s throws that, like I said, you just, ‘Man, that could have helped us.’ I feel like I made some pretty good throws throughout the game that I felt good about accuracy-wise. So yeah, I’m not going to over-harp on too much, but at the same time, you’ve got to hit guys when they’re open, so it’s an even kind of balance. But yeah, definitely, accuracy is one of the biggest things at quarterback. So, being accurate is what I take pride in, and you can’t miss open guys.
Q: Stefon Diggs told us it’s important to him to give you positive feedback and reinforcement. As a captain and the trench guy now, how do you feel you’re experiencing the pressure and expectation that comes with that?
DM: I think the guys are being great around me. They’re pumping me up and staying positive, and the huddle’s got some juice, so that’s the biggest thing. Being in the huddle, having some juice and having all eyes on each other, waiting for somebody to say something, I feel like I’ve got some juice in the huddle. That’s what I’m trying to bring to practice, bring some juice and positive energy and not let that game kind of bleed into this game we just had. So, just try to come out here and like I said, do what I can to get the guys going early. We’re playing in a different kind of climate, so adjusting to that, and it’s getting cold a little bit around here. But those guys do a great job pumping me up, and I’ve got to realize that I’m still young, but at the same time, I’ve still got to be a voice and help those guys around me because my voice, it means something.
Q: Coach [Mike] Vrabel said that they would evaluate if they put too much on your plate early in the season. Have you noticed any changes with that so far this week?
DM: No. Any team, we’re trying to establish the run. So, from that point, I think you win games running the football and stopping the run, so trying to set that up. I feel like the guys, we’ve got guys that we can throw to in space and make plays, and we can hurt teams in the pass. So, I don’t feel like anything’s changed, and I’m just trying to do my part in whatever they ask me to do.
Q: Have you felt like there’s anything too much on your plate?
DM: No. I think, like I said previously, any time you’re playing quarterback in the NFL, it’s a lot on your plate. You’re playing quarterback for one of 32 teams. It’s a lot, and it’s something I don’t take for granted. What a special position it is in this league. There’s a lot of good that comes with it, and there’s a lot of stuff that’s on your plate, and that’s just part of it. So, I try to do whatever I can to study as much as I can, hear the play calls and study the formations before he [McDaniels] calls them. Like I said, there’s a lot of things that go into it. Being accurate, play calling, getting in and out of plays, so just trying to, like I said, get a good grip on it. The more we do that throughout the weeks and as the season goes on, the better I’ll feel in this offense.
Q: More plate talk. You keep talking about the plate, so you are never going to say, ‘You know what, there’s too much on my plate, I can’t do it.’ You’re always going to, as a player and competitor, I would imagine you say, ‘I can do it, I can get it.’ Are there points at which you might say, ‘You know what, it’s probably not a bad idea to streamline that?’ It’s a funny spot that you’re in where you don’t want to say it’s too much, but you have to be realistic about, ‘I’m not there on that yet.’
DM: Yeah, I think that’s what you spend so much time for. It’s what you’re here in April for and throughout the building blocks of the offense. I think more of that is, ‘Hey, I may not like this play this week,’ or ‘Hey, I might not like something out of this look.’ So, it’s more of that, share my opinions with Coach [McDaniels] rather than, shoot, not taking the challenge on. So, I’m just trying to – Coach is trying to put the best plays in the huddle that we feel good about and that are our best plays, and then from there, just try to go and execute.
Q: I wanted to ask you about sliding. How natural does that come to you, and is that something you actually practiced?
DM: I played baseball growing up, so sliding was pretty natural. I slid headfirst more in second base more than I can remember, but yeah, just being able to get down. I slid a couple of times in the games, and I think I’ve got to do a better job of instead of running sideways, try to get as much as I can and then slide. So, get as much as I can, but really from there, in the third down and down in the goal line, try to be big and not take too much of a hit, but get what I can.
Q: How do you feel about your mechanics and your footwork right now? Do you feel like you’re in a good place with all that?
DM: I think throughout training camp and over the summer, trying to get a grip on the offense, get a grip on the timing and the routes and how it ties up with my feet. I think I was accurate and made some throws when my feet timed up with the routes and with the concept. So, I’ve just got to stay on my stuff throughout the week of not letting little things like that go to waste because I feel like when I’ve got a good base, turn my shoulder at it and let it rip, I’ve been on target. So, that’s just the main thing, and I feel good throwing it, so that’s what matters.
Q: Is it the same as what you were doing last year in terms of left foot forward and all that hitch stuff?
DM: Yeah, same setup. Like I said, a little different offensively with under center and really kind of the same stuff. But yeah, just trying to apply it to this offense. I can’t even remember some of the different stuff from last year, but yeah, trying to keep the same stuff, try to rep it and just continue repping it. The throws that I feel like we should have back, try to get those after practice and throughout practice try to work on throws and making throws from pockets. I think it’s tough to emulate in practice a defensive lineman kind of pushing the offensive line back into you and not being able to step into it. So, some of those throws are tough to emulate, and that’s what I try to do in my individual time after practice.
Q: Guys talk about flushing it when they move on throughout the week. Has that been easy for you this week?
DM: Throughout the course of the last season, you learn it’s any given week in this league. Shoot, I think it’s one of those things that you’ve got to bring in every week, and you can’t let last week dwell on this week. I think that’s what these guys and what coaches are talking about and they’re preaching, and wanting to start fast. So for me, flushing it, but also just learn from it. Learning from it, learn as much as I can, try to get on the winning side of things, and that’s what I’m here to do.
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