TRANSCRIPT: Drake Maye Press Conference 8/13
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Here’s what Patriots QB Drake Maye had to say after the team’s first joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday:
On being out there with those Special Olympians:
“It was awesome. Just to see the fun they’re having out there, the fun that it brings me, and just them playing. Playing football is just a game we all started playing when we were young and fell in love with it at that age. I remember playing flag back in the day, and for them to see them go out there running routes, throwing football, scoring touchdowns, just having fun and being into it. That’s the biggest thing. You see them communicate, and having a wristband and caring about it and loving it, and that’s the coolest part for me.”
On what he thought of the officiating during that:
“Yeah, the officiating. There’s a little bit of Vrabes out there officiating. I thought he did a good job. He was trying to help Team Mass out, which is cool. No, but I think it’s really … The rules, you try to keep it within the rules. It’s really just about them having fun. I think they all want to win. That’s the biggest thing I saw. They want to win still.”
On how today was for him:
“Where?
[in the joint practices]
“Oh, yeah. I think it was good for us. It was good for us to see a defense that does a lot of things. They got us a few times, feel like we got them. So it’s good for us to see that and experience a new defense, and kind of very different from Washington and very different from our defense.”
On what he saw on the long touchdown to TreVeyon Henderson:
“I think they just didn’t account for them and just trying to give it to him an easy ball to let him catch and run. I think it’s hard to catch him once he’s in the open field.”
On the fact Mack Hollins said he punted the ball because he wanted to shift the energy of practice and if he could sense the same thing with him and if he felt it had an impact:
“I think it’s one of those things where there’s fans in here. It’s an environment that you expect to be really hostile. I think we just got to bring our own energy. It’s how away games are. You got to bring your own energy. I think the guys responded well at times. But I think we, as a team, can do a better job of bringing energy and have them some energy when our guys make a play and when we don’t respond into that.”
On with Josh McCown out here and what it was like to go from Myers Park to the NFL:
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. With Josh, spent a lot of hours in quarterback drills and throwing the football with him. But I played with really both his sons in high school. They were my teammates, so I still stay in touch with them. They’re great dudes, and it’s kind of full circle seeing it come out here and him coaching the NFL. It’s pretty cool.”
On the fact he hit Henderson on a vertical route on 7-on-7s and how much of a mismatch he provides against guys like linebackers, safeties, with his speed:
“Sometimes they leave the backs one-on-one, and sometimes that’s your best matchup on the field. You got safeties over top of receivers. You got sometimes a lot of guys in the middle of the field in zones, so sometimes one-on-one with the running backs. It’s great having, I really feel like all three of them, Mondre [Rhamondre Stevenson] and Gibby [Antonio Gibson] and TreVeyon, can make plays out of the backfield and keeps the defense honest, makes it hard for them.”
On so much being made of Brian Flores’ defense and the pressure he brings to opposing offenses and how he feels they handled it:
“Yeah, I think the guys at times up there up front, I think I can help them out and be more demonstrative about where I want to send them and where I want them to go. But really, we blocked it up when we got it right and I think there’s times where they’re going to get us. That’s what he does. He tries to create chaos. And I think that’s good for us to see and know. Sometimes at the line, you may not know, ‘Hey, is this guy coming? They’re just bluffing that.’ So it’s good for us to see it. And I think it’s great for us to learn from.”
On how much he consulted with Garrett Bradbury to pick his brain on what he might see from them:
“Yeah, I think I consult with him a lot. Obviously, he lived it throughout practice, and he knows a lot of the guys personally. I think for him, it’s a different system than what he was doing here in Minnesota, so it’s a little different for him. But the rules in the offense, just follow that. He felt like, I think the Mike points, they try to move some guys around, one playing safety, then he goes to linebacker, then he’s on the edge. So they do a good job of mixing up. I think when we were on the same page and I was quick in and out of the huddle, I thought we had a good play.”
On how much the combination of practice and also being out there for the joint practices and the preseason game help him evolve with Josh McDaniels’ offense and get him where he needs to be for the opener:
“Yeah, it’s great for me to get new looks. I was bummed out in the two minute in Washington, and I think we had a good first two minute [drive] in the touchdown. We needed a field goal to tie, so that’s always good. And then coming back out of the second two minute, I think we had a good first play and took a sack, and you can’t do that. So things like that you learn and you know. So the look’s not there, I think, in two minutes, just to find answers and find, ‘Hey, learn from that.’ But we protect the ball. It’s like I didn’t really put it in harm’s way. And then it’s good for us to see new defenders, guys that are going to be grabbing and holding and maybe have a different skillset than our guys. So it’s pretty cool to be out here and get a new look.”
On Will Campbell continuing to acclimate and what he’s seen from him:
“Yeah, he’s a beast. You see a different energy out there in joint practices and games. I think just challenge them to bring it every day when we’re facing our defense. There’s no days off in this league. You win a game, you lose a game, you’re right back in practice on Monday or practice on Wednesday. You’re back at it with a new team and a new edge rusher that’s just as good as the one in the past. I think the challenge, that’s what I learned last year. It’s a new week, roll it over. And if you play a good game, you got to come back and do it again. If you don’t have a good game, you get a chance to answer the next week. I think him and Jared [Wilson], especially up front, are learning. It’s going to be bad plays throughout practice, so just bounce back from it.”
On the fact there are only a few weeks left before the season starts and what he’s hoping to really work on over the next three or four weeks:
“I think just continuing to build on what we got, build on the relationships with the guys. I think just kind of creating a unity within the offense and really within the team to fight for each other. It’s a great opportunity out here in the joint practice to play against somebody else and come together as a team instead of being offense versus defense. And really just that. Then just me, just getting used to game planning and how your coach likes to do it on offense, and just kind of studying the plan and how we’re going to execute it when we get to week one.”
On the fact it seems like Mike Vrabel is trying to draw more out of him as a leader and if it gets annoying when he’s on him about that stuff and if he likes being pushed that way and if it’s stood out that it’s something he’s focused on:
“No, I think I want that. I want somebody to push me to do more for the team, have more of an impact with the guys around me. I feel like if I have that, and I feel like I’m not showing it myself, then I need somebody to push me along. I think us guys on offense, the big veterans, and Mike Onwenu, and Morgan [Moses], and Hunter [Henry], and Mondre [Rhamondre Stevenson], and those guys, and Stef Diggs, are going to challenge ourselves to, ‘Hey,’ … Garrett Bradbury in there to push ourselves to lead. And really, I think it starts with me building those guys. And then from there, I think guys can bounce off and really tell those guys to push me because once I feel like they’re pushing me, I feel like I can give back.”
On if he wants to be a captain and if that matters to him:
“I think it’s a great honor. I think it’s something that you don’t take lightly around here, especially with this Patriots teams in the past with the captains they had. It’s an aspiration to be a captain, but there’s a lot of guys on this team that deserve that and have played a long time in this league.”
On the fact the coaches mentioned that the second and long situations were a big emphasis today and how valuable he feels those are as a quarterback and how he feels he executed those:
“Just finding a manageable third down, that’s huge. There’s going to be times we got an incomplete pass on first down or maybe a run that didn’t go as well. There’s times where you got to be back in second and 10 and try to get half or try to make a manageable third down. That’s huge in this league.”
(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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