Here’s the full transcript of New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s press conference for Thursday August 15, 2024:
On getting more playing time, and the McCourty twins saying he needs to work on a better touchdown celebration:
“Yeah, I didn’t really plan on a rushing one. I probably should have thought of one. Usually, I think in college, I do the finger roll, but I was just happy to get in the end zone. Happy to score points. I think it’s fun to get out there. I’m glad the weather held off. Other than that, thought the guys did a good job. I thought up front they fought hard. Just little things, me getting the snap. We had a false start. Just little things that we’re preaching over and over operationally that we got to clean up and hopefully cost us part of the game.”
On if he’s looking forward to having at least two quarters of game tape to evaluate:
“Yeah, I think it’s an awesome opportunity. I think definitely it’s the things I can clean up. I had some good things, had some bad plays. Like I said, the dropped snaps, inexcusable for me. Other than that, probably just sometimes I feel like I’m scrambling when I can probably sit in there and hang on and try to make a throw. So definitely a lot of things to learn from. Good to get out there. Like I said, I get some tape to learn from. But other than that, I thought the guys fought. I think we played hard. You can look at a lot of things, but the one thing you can’t question is our effort, and that really starts it all.”
On his confidence and where it is after tonight:
“Yeah, I think every time you get out there, I think you kind of get more and more confident. First off, it’s always going to be the nerves going out there, running out there the first time. But other than that, I think the more reps, I think it’s only going to help me. At the end of the day, I’m just fortunate to be able to get out there and get some reps and try to make the most of my opportunities.”
On how this week felt compared to last week:
“I think definitely the joint practice helped. I think being able to face the team in practice before you play them in a game is always a huge help, especially seeing different looks and, ‘Hey, if they do this, you’re thinking this.’ Just some really answers to the test before we take the test. But I think some plays helped us. Also, sometimes you can scheme up each other off of practice. But they’re a good football team. I think they’re a strong contender in the NFC. I think it was a good chance for us to learn from it and look at the tape, especially offensively, just clean up the little things operationally and make sure you run the right route, getting the snap. A lot of those things, you may not notice from you all, but they add up and can trickle down to, in this league, the margin of error.”
On being on the field with five other rookies after his touchdown and how special of a moment that was:
“Yeah, it’s an awesome moment. We always spend a lot of time in here in the rookie meetings. During the spring, it was just us. So it was definitely cool having those guys out there. I think one of the first things I did was, I think, a chest bump, JP [Ja’Lynn Polk]. So just cool to be out there with some of the guys there in the spot, going through the same thing. Fun time for us. That moment, I’ll probably never forget.”
On the third down conversion throw to Javon Baker:
“Yeah, not to get in too much defense. They rolled down a safety and took away the options. I feel like coming back backside, had an in-cut that I think missed in practice this week that I probably could have thrown. So like I said, just learn it from practice, try to translate it to the game.”
On the fact it looked like he lost track of the football after his first touchdown and if he ended up finding out what happened to the ball:
“Yeah, my guy Dev in the equipment, shout out those guys, they got it and taped it up. So pretty cool deal.”
On his composure and if that’s always been a part of his game and how he feels he’s developed as he’s gotten into the NFL:
“Yeah. I think our job as a quarterback, not to get too rattled. Try to stay cool and calm and collected over there, especially on the sideline. Sometimes I tend to throw my helmet or something. Little things like that can kind of go a long way with just your guys and how they’re feeling and setting the tone. So I’m trying to stay cool, calm. I probably need to get a little more excited when good things happen. My parents always get on me, say I don’t show enough emotion when good things happen. But at the same time, you can’t ride the highs and get too down in the lows. So just trying to stay even keel.”
On the fact it looks like they were putting him in concepts he used in college and if he discussed that with Alex Van Pelt:
“Yeah, I think that’s the great thing about this offense with what AVP does. We do a lot of different things. We can spread it out on empty. We can get in 12 personnel, 13 personnel, run the football. So we do a lot of different things. We got keepers, we got kind of the whole nine yards. So I think a lot of the stuff that translates from college, other than getting in a huddle and using a cadence, it all translates. So I think that’s a good point. And also we go through kind of a list of plays we like before we’re going out there. We’re not just going out there just not knowing what’s going on. So we got a little bit of idea of, ‘Hey, it’s third and medium. I think this call is coming.’ This is what I told them I liked. So he does a great job of understanding our feedback from all four of us and just call them what we like. That’s an awesome way for us to connect.”
(Editor’s Note: This transcript is done via the available footage and is subject to typos. If you spot something, please take a moment to let me know in the comments below.)
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
