Patriots QB Drake Maye Transcript 9/17
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
September 17, 2025
Q: How’d you feel the first practice of the week went here?
DM: Yeah, onto the next. Good one we got this past weekend, but we’ve got to move on. One at home, we’ve got to start to get one at home. I think if we start to play well in front of our home stadium, that’s something that Coach [Mike] Vrabel’s been wanting to do, is play well at home and make it a tough place to play. So, it comes with execution, details and starting off on a good Wednesday practice. I feel like we did that. We’ve got some things to clean up, and we’re still talking with a new opponent. Wednesdays, there’s stuff that you adjust and look back on, but I thought it was a good start.
Q: How important is the consistency of effort from week to week or performance from week to week and wanting to kind of back what you did last week and take it forward?
DM: That’s one of the big team keys this week is consistency. Consistency in what we do, consistency in bringing it every day, consistency in details and effort. Like you said, it’s something that we want to establish as an identity on this football team, and that starts with doing it in practice. Hopefully, that translates, and we’ll translate it into the game.
Q: What do you feel like the biggest difference was for you and your group in Week 2 compared to Week 1?
DM: Yeah, I think there was a little fire under us. Week 1, you’re kind of anticipating. What’s this like, new team, new guys. Week 2, you want to get back at it, and we know we didn’t put our best football out there Week 1. So, just the mindset of what we can do and just trying to bring it every week. There are still things to learn from on the tape and areas to improve. I think just a little fire under us, and hopefully we bring that this Sunday.
Q: A lot of guys said that you were the one who brought the fire on Sunday. How do you respond to that, and is that kind of what you want to be as a captain?
DM: Yeah, it starts with practice. It starts with me being out there today, and it starts with bringing it every day in practice, not just being one of the guys that has it on game day or has it when things are going bad. So, just my efforts to try to bring it. Being the one and not having the coaches to do it, I think that’s the best teams. So, that’s what I’m trying to build. I’ve got a long way to go, but working toward that.
Q: I know you were a big fan of Aaron Rodgers growing up. What was it about his game that you like so much?
DM: Yeah, I was just getting to the age of starting to really love watching football, and he won the Super Bowl when I probably just remembered watching my first Super Bowl. I know that they won it with the Packers. So, he’s very talented throwing the football, and he’s got some swagger to him. I think it’s just special, how he throws the football. I remember watching it last year when Jacoby [Brissett] was playing, I think we were playing at the Jets, and I was watching him warm up. It’s just something you don’t take for granted, somebody who throws the football that way. Just like I said, his swagger, and yeah, big fan.
Q: Is there anything specifically about Rodgers’ game that you maybe try to carry over into yours?
DM: Shoot, it’s hard to emulate the way he spins it. I mean, he spins it with the best of them. Shoot, I remember in eighth grade, I was playing baseball and different sports, and I looked up how to hold a football. So, I looked up Aaron Rodgers’ grip, and I’ve had the grip ever since. So yeah, just little things. His play fakes are unbelievable, the way he gets defenders. He got someone last week on a play fake. Just his intensity, his cadence is one of the best in the league. I’m not going to get there this early in my career, but try to work toward it. He’s so good at drawing guys offsides and taking advantage of big plays. He’s just a special talent. Moving guys, moving defenders and throwing in tight windows, it’s pretty cool to watch.
Q: Have you had a chance to sit down and talk with him?
DM: I haven’t. I said what’s up to him after the game last year and then got knocked out with concussion in the game we had here at home last year. So, hopefully sometime down the road, but we’ll be pretty focused on Sunday.
Q: You mentioned the fakes with Rodgers. You were on quite a few boots in the game last week. What do you like about moving the pocket and how does that –
DM: Yeah, I think it keeps the defense honest, trying to build off our run game, build off our play action game. We had throws off it, we had boots off it, we had different designs, and the chance for me to get on the edge, keep them honest as a runner, then from there, get easy dump offs. There are some goods and some bads. It cuts off the side of the field, obviously, but you try to get the good run action to get it that way. I’m just trying to bury the fake and think I need to do a better job of that, but other than that, it’s good play. The O-line guys like it. For them, just getting on the move and hitting somebody. So yeah, it’s a good thing, and you can use it in the red zone, short yardage and four-minute, five-minute stuff.
Q: Do you feel like last week you guys got closer to an offensive identity, or is it just that that’s what worked best for Miami, and that’s why we did it?
DM: Yeah, you try to make it different throughout the weeks with who you’re facing. The opponent matters so much. But yeah, I think some of the big hitters were getting the ball out, staying inside-out and pass pro. The guys did a good job of that. Establishing the run, we had it in the run game; I thought we did a good job of that. Just positive plays. Being in short distances, I think we’ve got to do a better job there and lay back on the penalties. I think those guys – I play a role in that. So just from there, some of the main things I think we’re trying to establish, we accomplished.
Q: What impresses you about the Steelers defense and the idea of going against Jabrill Peppers as a possibility also?
DM: Yeah, first off, their down guys are good players, really good players. Their linebackers, their front seven’s really good. They’ve got veterans guys in the back end that have been great players in this league. It’s the Steelers; they’re going to play hard, they’re coached well. For us, we’ve just got to, like I said, stay ahead of the chains. I think you mentioned Pep [Jabrill Peppers], if he’s out there, shoot, he’s going to compete. We know what he’s like, so he’s going to bring it.
Q: How would you describe what Stefon [Diggs] is like behind the scenes?
DM: He’s a great teammate. I think that’s the biggest thing. He’s fire on game day, you see him. You see him even in practice, he wants to bring it, rightfully so. He thinks a lot of the guys around him, he wants to be a great teammate, he wants to bring the energy, he’s a leader, and he wants the ball. I’ve got to do my part of trying to get it to him more, and then from there, still being honest about throwing to the right guy. But getting him the football, and he’s trying to do all the right things and showing up every day, so yeah, pretty cool.
Q: Drake, I know you haven’t spent a ton of time with him, but another receiver, Julian Edelman, is going into the Patriots Hall of Fame on Saturday. Any stories or memorable moments with him?
DM: Yeah, I got to meet him a few times. Something we talked about in the quarterback room – Coach [Josh] McDaniels talks about – is the trick plays back in the day. He used to say, when they would complete one, he always – I think Julian talked about one where he threw it to the guy he wasn’t supposed to for a touchdown one time, but he’d come back in the team meeting with some ice on his shoulder, and the guys would be laughing, and we’d do that for Tom [Brady]. So, Coach McDaniels would talk about that and thought it was funny, acting like his arm was hurting from throwing.
Q: It looked like, from the outside, that Pop [DeMario] Douglas has kind of seen a dip in opportunities over the first couple of games. What are those conversations like with him when it comes to keeping him engaged and kind of keeping him on the same page?
DM: The big thing with Pop is he’s done such a great job since training camp, since the spring, learning the offense, being in different roles. Just stay bringing it. The ball’s going to find him. There are some opportunities where we can give him the football, and I think we’re going to use him more. He’s a great player, good with the ball in his hands. Just keep going. I think sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way in the game plan some weeks, and you’ll get some bigger personnel and things like that to run the football. So, we’ll definitely find ways to get Pop the ball. Shoot, he’s got a touchdown on the year; shoot, that’s a big stat in this league.
Q: Drake, Stefon said that you guys, when you came out of Week 1 going into Miami, were kind of pissed off as an offense. Do you agree with that assessment, and how do you keep that urgency coming off of a win in Week 2?
DM: We just felt like we left a lot out there. I think we, like I said, came with some fire in Week 2. You’ve got to keep that mindset. It starts out here in practice. It starts this week. Just bring it, realizing that in this league, you’ve got to bring it every week. It’s a new team. We’re playing at home in front of our own fans, so try to get one. It’s a new week. We’ve had different success this past week, and just got to try to emulate.
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