Patriots QB Drake Maye Transcript 9/30
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
September 30, 2026
Q: Some media have said there’s a rift between you and Coach Vrabel. Outside of the usual give and take, are there any issues with you and Coach?
DM: Coach Vrabel’s been one of the best football coaches I’ve had in my life. I think Coach Vrabel’s been one of the biggest things as to why this has been so enjoyable for me is playing for Coach. I think we all feel that way in the locker room. He pushes us hard. I’ve loved playing for him, and it’s not going to change. It hasn’t changed, and it won’t change. The way he pushes me, and he coaches the quarterbacks in a way that I really respect, and I’m looking forward to getting going, proving to Coach that I can lead this football team and play good football.
Q: I’m hoping you can put something to rest. There’s been a lot of conversation about the shoulder. You were asked questions, and it’s a yes or no. Is the shoulder impacting how you are throwing the football?
DM: No, it hasn’t. I don’t think it impacts my decision-making, and that’s what makes and breaks play for quarterbacks. I don’t feel like we’re struggling to move the ball. I think we’re turning the football over, doing things that are preventing us from scoring touchdowns, and I think that’s one of the biggest things for me. I think we’ve had a history of good football when we don’t turn the football over, playing good football and finding ourselves on the right side of games. So, that’s the biggest thing, and I’m looking forward to another good week of practice. I felt good out there today.
Q: Some of the stats suggest that you are still throwing the ball well, but it is the decision-making that hasn’t been there. Can you explain why that might be? What is the disconnect on the decision-making right now?
DM: That’s this position. There are reps in the game, and there are ones that cost you. It happens to be that you’ve got to outweigh the good with the bad by a wide margin to play well at this position, and that’s quarterback. I’m feeling good throwing, and I feel like I have some throws I wish I had back, as I always do, and definitely some decisions. But at the same time, I’ve got to trust my guys and trust the guys up front – they’re doing a nice job – to keep on playing football.
Q: Drake, what defines this Bills defense as you get into your study?
DM: I think it’s the guys they’ve had. I’ve played them for a couple of years now. [Terrel] Bernard in the middle and [Greg] Rousseau on the edge, and they’ve got some new additions. But these guys are Bills players. They’re in the right spot. They’re coached well. They know tendencies. They know what we like to do, and I think one of the best things about what they do is they’re going to make you earn it. I think that’s the Bills, and we’ve got a tough challenge. So, I’m looking forward to getting back up there, seeing the new stadium. They know who they have on offense and how explosive their offense is. So, they do a nice job of making you earn it and making you drive the football.
Q: What was the key to this group coming together last time you guys went to Buffalo? This was a turning point last year.
DM: It was handling the environment, knowing that we believe in ourselves and knowing that this is every week in the NFL. There are weeks that you want to forget about and move on. There are weeks you want to build off of, and last week was definitely one we want to move on from. We know we’ve got a tough challenge ahead, but it’s a division opponent that we’ve played before and have a little different staff, but some of the same players. Good players. So, we’ve got our hands full, but know that it’s a challenge that we’ve done before.
Q: How has Jim Leonhard put a stamp on this defense, and how does it look different from how it was run under Sean McDermott?
DM: It’s definitely different from the standpoint of what they do structurally. I think they, coming from a defense last year, the Broncos, that we faced that was really good, they want to do some of the similar things, but at the same time, mix it up with their personnel. So, they have good players that have played a lot in this league. You know that he wants to make you earn it, and at the same time, he’ll test you and try to do some things to get you out of plays that you feel are your strong suit.
Q: When times are tough, who do you lean on to help?
DM: First off, my faith. You’ve got to lean on your faith. There’s nothing more important. My purpose in this life is to be a child of the Lord and knowing that I’m blessed to be in this position. This is always something I can lean on, and also having a good group in this locker room. Having a great wife and knowing that my family has always been there and they always will be. They’ll be at every game, win, lose, or draw, and seeing them after the game. So, I know it’s not where we wanted to be and not where we want to start, but it’s how you fight back, respond and know that this league’s not always sunshine and rainbows.
Q: Had you done those running back drills ever before here in Foxborough?
DM: Yes, we did them during training camp. It’s one of the things where the more you run the football, the more that you’ve got to protect the football. I think that’s different for a quarterback when you’re out there and you’re not maybe seeing all the same punches until you get there on Sunday. So, trying to replicate that. I remember doing some in training camp, and you try to mix it in there every now and then because the football’s the most important.
Q: What was the coaching point on the fumble on the scramble near the red zone? It looked like you had two hands on it, and it still got knocked loose.
DM: I was just talking to our running backs coach about that. These defenses are doing such a nice job of coaching it and telling people to go punch at the football that even when you feel like you have two hands, a good punch is hard to really compete with. So, just reiterating and refocusing that no matter how many times that you can really try to protect the football, you’ve got to hold it tighter. Know that protecting the football protects this building and everybody’s real life with it. So, having that mindset. I think falling to the ground is more of an emphasis for me, falling to the ground, not letting it ease up and trying to relax when you’re falling to the ground.
Q: Do you feel like you guys, as an offense, might benefit from shrinking down some of the things you do just to try to simplify things for everybody?
DM: I think it’s really about us making the plays go. I don’t feel like we’re going out there, getting outmatched and not moving the football. There are plays out there to be made. There are throws for me to make, and in the run game, there’s extra little strain in blocking and holes for the backs to hit that you’ve seen and we’ve seen. I feel like we’ve had the right plan going into it, and I think shrinking it or changing the whole thing isn’t going to really benefit us. We’ve got a good core of what we like to do. We’ve established it in training camp, just finding the times and finding the ways and making them go. We just talked about making them go, and it starts with me making them go and making good decisions.
Q: Drake, how would you describe what Romeo Doubs has brought to the receiver room and where your connection is with him right now?
DM: I missed him on the third down, but I love what he’s been doing. He’s just been putting his head down and working ever since the first game, and I’m gaining more and more trust in Romeo. He’s doing some great things, blocking the run game and joining in on the efforts of becoming what we like to do on offense for this football team with Coach Vrabel, and that’s effort, blocking downfield and doing the little things right. I’m really proud of how he has handled things and am looking forward to seeing him keep doing his thing.
Q: Drake, when you say run game, I’m curious, what’s it like having a guy like Reggie Gilliam out there to help out with the run game, and how do you feel like you guys can utilize him more to get the run going a bit more?
DM: He’s one of the best in the business at his position, knowing what he can do. How smart he is, that’s the most underrated thing, I think, about Reggie. How smart he is, knowing about blocks, attacking guys, attacking linebackers and attacking Sams on the line. So, he can do a lot of different things, knowing that he can maneuver around guys and fit in different gaps is really impressive. For me to be back there with him, how quickly he’s picked up our offense and the little nuances has been impressive. So, just keep on using him in ways to open up the run game and knowing that he’s a fullback. He knows what his job is, he owns it and does it at a high level.
Q: When you’re going through a week like this one off a tough loss, how does Josh [McDaniels] coach you? Is he hard on you? Is he an arm over the shoulder? What’s his approach like with you?
DM: He’s always going to be hard on the quarterback, and he knows that practice is one of the best ways to really build confidence and build comfort with the guys and the team going into games. He’s always approached it that way. There is always a level of, I wouldn’t say stress for me, but I’m going out to the practice field knowing that I’ve got to be on my stuff. I think that’s one of the best ways that I’ve tried to approach playing in this offense, trying to do it right in practice the first time because he always talks about that chance in the game where you’re not going to get it again. You’ve got to do it right the first time, so trying to take the meetings in the classroom and in the meeting room to the practice field and have that translate to the game. So, I think he does a nice job of understanding what it’s like, but at the same time, pushing and not reliving the past. But he definitely has a lot of things that he’s experienced, so it’s cool to hear some of the stories.
Transcripts are provided by the Patriots media relations department as a courtesy to the media and are edited for readability. All press conferences are posted and archived in their entirety on patriots.com. The duplication or posting of this transcript in its entirety as original content is prohibited. Media are encouraged to link to the complete transcript on patriots.com when sharing full quotes with their audiences.