TRANSCRIPT: Phil Perry Interview Of Drake Maye: Looking Forward to ‘a little hard coaching’
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NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry caught up with New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye at the P & G Battle of the Paddles event Wednesday night. Here’s the full transcript of the interview:
Happy now to have with us, Patriots’ quarterback, Drake Maye. Drake, Battle of the Paddles champion here two times over, both in the doubles and in the singles. Good to get the competitive juices flowing out here?
“Yeah, good to get it going. I liked my chances coming in the night. Played a little growing up with my brothers, and we play a little bit at the facility, not much. We do get back there on some off days and Fridays, so good chance to come out here, meet some guys, and have fun.”
You’re going to have a new head coach this coming season. Maybe you’ll be able to play a little ping-pong against him at the facility, but there’s plenty of work to be done between now and the start of the season. It sounds like you’ve had a chance to talk to Mike Vrabel. Why do you feel like this might be a nice hire for your team? Why is he the right guy for this group moving forward?
“I think we’re really excited about Coach Vrabel. He’s played in New England, knows what it’s like to have success for the Patriots and for that team, and been a head coach somewhere else, so he’s kind of been out of the system and seeing different things. So excited to get him back going. And I think he’s really excited. So I think the guys are going to be pumped up.”
He’s known as somebody, Drake, who does a little bit of hard coaching. That’s just sort of his style. Is there anything about that that maybe excites you to get that style of coaching into the building?
“Yeah, I think for me as a player, especially in football, you want that. You like that. You want to be coached hard. We’re playing at the highest level, but we still need to be coached hard. I think that’s the biggest thing people get away from. We don’t know everything, especially me coming in, second year, just finished my rookie season. I don’t know everything and want to be coached hard. I know Coach McDaniels will get that done, but Coach Vrabel, yeah, I think some of our guys, including me, probably need that – a little hard coaching.”
You mentioned Josh McDaniels. Have you had a chance yet to be in touch with him and do you think it’ll be a challenge for you, or how much of a challenge will it be to change offenses going into year two?
“No doubt. Yeah, you learn a new offense. Obviously, I think I’m a bright kid, and I don’t think it’ll be too challenging, but obviously, I think it’s a new offense. You got to do it, and they don’t give you much time to work with coaches during this time period, you got to have time off. It’s fortunate, like I said, you got the whole library from years ago, back when the greatest ever do it, did it in the same offense. What a guy to watch film on. Coach McDonald has been one of the best in the business as a coordinator, and looking forward to running the offense that Tom Brady did.”
It’s early in the offseason, I know, but have you had a chance already to look at some of that stuff that you’re talking about that’s in the database there for the team?
“Yeah, I found myself last season saying, ‘Hey, what did Tom Braids look like in seven on seven?’ Or, “What did Tom Brady look like in quarterback individual?” So you find yourself flipping through the database and pulling up Tom, obviously, because it’s… What a cool thing to have a film on Tom back in the day. So I found fil of him throwing to Gronk in seven on seven, so it was pretty cool.”
You’re fresh off the Pro Bowl. You told our friend Kay Adams the other day that maybe you’re doing a little bit of recruiting, talking to the guys about the area. Free agency is upcoming. It’s going to be big in terms of roster building for the Patriots this offseason. How do you try to encourage players to come to the Northeast and come to Foxborough because especially lately, Drake, it hasn’t been necessarily a place that guys are dying to come play?
“Yeah, I think obviously since the dynasty has been over and we’re trying to get back there. So I think it’s a huge thing. I think the number one thing is selling the city, selling the fans. They love you. When we’re winning, which we need to do, they’re behind our back. And I think we got something to look forward to in Boston.”
However the team looks, is there one area of your game that you’re looking to really improve on before we let you go?
“Protecting the football, situation of football, and just keep on being a leader.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview is transcribed based on the available footage. Please post any errors/omissions in the comments below.)
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