Post Game Press Conference – Patriots QB Drake Maye
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
November 17, 2024
Q: Drake, 282 yards, a couple touchdowns, but I’m sure for you, the loss and the two turnovers are going to eat at you a little bit. Just lessons learned in this one when you look back on it?
DM: Yeah, just can’t hurt our defense on the fumble, third down. Got to get the ball out. Can’t take a sack there. Same thing I talked about in previous press conferences. Punt, ending the drive with a kick, Coach Mayo preaches that, ending every drive with a kick. I thought we did some good things, but at the end of the day just wasn’t good enough.
Q: Jerod Mayo said that the interception at the end was a miscommunication. Can you take us through what happened on that play?
DM: Yeah, it was a two-high look and Pop [DeMario Douglas]’s up the middle, and they’re pretty good up front rushing five. I tried to kind of put it on him and kind of hit him over the linebacker, and Pop was thinking probably deep, but at the end of the day, just got to be on the same page, and I think Pop did the right thing, I guess, got to just talk through more conversations. Just goes back to me during the week doing more, talking through different situations, “hey, I may put this one on you versus let it rip.” That’s about it.
Q: It feels like each week you get a little bit better and there’s a little more growth. Where do you see the areas of growth being this week, and also speak to the third and short situations and getting into third and short with gains on first and second down.
DM: Yeah, I think this week just scrambling to be a passer. I think not taking off so early and just tucking the football, being a scrambler, throw the ball downfield, and we’ve got good players downfield. I thought I made good decisions – just the last interception. But I think week to week, I think we’re getting better. Proud of those guys up front for battling, and we were able to run the football pretty good at times today. Just a couple of things, I think down there in the red zone we’ve got to capitalize on.
Q: Fourth and 2 down near the goal line. Did you have any input whether to go for it on fourth down and do you wish you had gone for it?
DM: I think it’s easy to look back and wish we would have done this or that. But I think that was to make it a one-score game. We’re going to hang our hat on what the coaches want to do, and I think I wouldn’t disagree with them. We’ve got a good defense, and we’re proud of our defense, and we think our defense is a good unit. At the end of the day, they just made more plays than we did.
Q: Kendrick Bourne, no snaps last week, but this week he’s got 72 yards and a touchdown. What did you see from him? What was different about his attitude this week?
DM: Yeah, I think his attitude is always the same. KB has got great energy, and that’s the one thing about him. He’s going to come in, day in, day out with a smile on his face, and I think it’s a testament to him for not getting probably what he wanted last week and coming out here and making some big plays for us.
Q: Obviously you have a ton on your plate for yourself in a game like this, but do you watch Matthew Stafford do his thing? He obviously had a great game today. Did you get a chance to speak with him after the game?
DM: Yeah, no doubt. Grew up a big fan of Matthew Stafford and still a fan over there on the sideline. Used to watch him on Thanksgiving. In fact, the Lions always played on Thanksgiving. Thought he threw the football sadly pretty well today. It was cool to watch and glad to meet him after the game and told him I was a big fan.
Q: Thrown a lot of passes to guys over 300 pounds in your career in the end zone?
DM: Yeah, it’s my first one. I’m proud of V-Lowe [Vederian Lowe], and I think we had some trickery. I think that kind of gets lost in the NFL, some trickery, misdirection, things like that. I think it fooled these guys in the end zone.
Q: Does he have good hands for a big guy?
DM: Yeah, good hands. He caught them all week. I tried to give him a nice pass. I think hopefully my mom probably could have caught it.
Q: What do you do or what do you say to Ja’Lynn Polk as he kind of struggles to find some consistency right now?
DM: Yeah, I think just keep going. I think he’s going to be a great player in this league. He’s a rookie like myself. We’re going to have some good games as Patriots together. Looking forward to keeping him going, and I think he’s getting thrown in there at different times and thrown in there to block some, so I think he’s going to pick up some little things, but he’s a great player, and need to find a way to get him the football.
Q: On that false start penalty at the end of the game there, I think it was your second to last drive, it looked like you were sort of going down the line of scrimmage to try to communicate something. How difficult was it to get everything communicated the way you wanted? Was noise a factor down there? What happened on that play?
DM: Yeah, I think the play clock was running down. Just trying to do different things and get guys lined up. Yeah, just unfortunate that we had to take a time-out there or really a false start. Kicked us back and kicked the field goal, so it was just unfortunate.
Q: Over the course of your starting experience, do you feel like the playbook has expanded, that there’s more variety? Have you gotten the sense that you guys can do more things now, even like today the pass distribution? Seemed like early on a lot of different people were involved throughout the game. Do you feel like it’s expanded for you?
DM: I think it’s a testament to this offense. And T.C. [McCartney] and the quarterback room of teaching us different looks, different guys, I think it’s predicated – I think it’s one of the strengths of having a lot of different guys that can make plays. They’ve got to guard everybody. That goes back to me trying to get people involved. I like getting a bunch of different people involved. I think just playing football, playing good football, and making the right read and being on time, it’s a testament to this offense that AVP [Alex Van Pelt] runs of what it can do.
Q: It looked like you made a couple of anticipation throws to Hunter Henry today. How far would you say your chemistry has come with him since training camp?
DM: Yeah, I think he’s a baller. I remember times in training camp, times I was in there with him. I remember I had a rack of four in 7-on-7 and I think I threw it to him maybe all four times or three of the four times. I’m trying to find 85. I think he’s one of the best tight ends in this league. I think him and Hoop [Austin Hooper], those are two great players for us. I think week in and week out, blocked their butts off in the run game and make plays for us. I’m proud of 85 and 81. I think we’re going to have some guys also in that room that are going to step up.
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