TRANSCRIPT: Drake Maye Postgame Press Conference 8/16

Here’s what New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had to say on Saturday following the Patriots 20-12 preseason win over the Vikings:

“Packed house today.”

On how good it was to get back out there:

“Yeah, it’s always good to get out there with the guys, and go through a real game like in the huddle, out of the huddle, shoot, got delay of the game. So that stuff’s good to be mad at myself for and a reminder to watch the clock getting in and out of the huddle, get the guys back in the huddle. So it’s always good to get real game reps where they can hit me and kind of real situations. ”

On why the delay of game, and if something happened …

“Yeah, I just got to get out of the huddle faster. I think it’s with me. I think it starts with me getting those guys back in the huddles. It’s different in practice, just getting back to the huddle when they start the play clock right after the play, the last play’s down. So this is a good reminder. I feel like I was watching it. For some reason, it was a second down, a weird play that my eyes weren’t on it, I think. But I think it falls on me. It’s good to have to bounce back from that. There may be a false start or holding, get back on track type of deal. So it was good to feel that. But obviously, disappointed myself for letting that happen out here.”

On what he sees in his teammte, Efton Chism, when he sees him breaking tackles and what he sees in this kid:

“Yeah, he just keeps on showing up. I think that’s the theme for him. It was throughout camp, throughout joint practices, throughout pre-season games. He got in the end zone again tonight, and just keeps on showing up. Like I said, he’s blocking the run game. He knows what to do. He’s staying late with veterans and asking me, ‘Hey, what do you think on this route?’ He wants it. I think that’s the biggest thing he’s showing. It’s paying off for him.”

On TreVeyon Henderson on his 11-yard run on that drive and then the touchdown:

“Yeah. I think he’s just dynamic. I mean, shoot. It’s cool knowing him. He’s out there on kickoff for us, kickoff return. I think from there, I think just try to find ways to get him open in space. I think he’s better than teams give him credit for running between the tackles, as you saw today. So just trying to find ways to get him the football. I think on the third down, could have gave to him earlier or gave him a better ball.”

Talked a lot about working with your line, joint practice. It was a covered opportunity today where you had to get flushed a little bit. You may have cut inside on you. You went around and made the pass in back haul.”

On working with his offensive line during the joint practices, and the play where he got flushed out and made the pass to Mack Hollins how much of that is his game and how important that is for his offensive line:

“Yeah, that’s just game. That’s just game situations. It’s hard to emulate that in practice because the defensive ends always think they got a sack. It’s good to get out here and know they actually have to bring me down. It’s good for us. It works for us to work scramble drills because sometimes we call something and we’re expecting this coverage, and they go to something else. It’s good for those guys to feel that and the receivers to work on for scramble drill and stuff like that. It’s hard to mimic that in practice, so it’s great to get it out here in a preseason game.”

On that play, and during the joint practices he’s been able to find him and Matt’s knack to get open and find space:

“I think one of those things where he’s in the right spot. He knows coverage. He’s a veteran in this league. He’s been in a lot of different systems. He’s played in this system before, knows the ins and outs, and knows what to expect, and I think he wants it. He wants the ball. He loves going up and getting them. I threw him the high first one, and he made a play on it. I was a little amped early in the game, so it was good to have a big 6’3″ receiver out there. Feel like DBs are scared to hit across the middle on our team. It’s nice having that.”

On how he would describe the communication with Josh McDaniels on the headset:

“Yeah, it’s great. I think having, before the 15 seconds goes out, even just constant reminders or a little reminder here or there, it goes a long way for us because we’re dealing with a lot of stuff out there. Even a reminder in the huddle to, ‘Hey,’ to a receiver, ‘Hey, get your depth,’ or, Hey, to an offensive line, ‘Hey, be ready for this,’ or something like that. It goes a long way. He’s great at giving little tidbits. From there, it’s just working on our communication of what I like hearing and what he likes giving me before the snap.”

On the fact he said he was a little amped up and if it’s hard for him to dial it down, even in this situation:

“Yeah, I don’t think you don’t want to dial it down. We’re out there, they’re keeping score. We’re trying to win. I missed Pop high. Same thing. He’s wide open sitting in zone out there. It’s a couple of plays we should have back, but I thought the guys up front blocked well. I think, dialing it back, like I said, it’s preseason, but these guys are still trying to come tackle us and stop us. We’re trying to go down and score.”

On Sam Howell:

“He’s one of my best friends. It was pretty cool us starting against each other in a preseason game. Really our first time really playing against each other.”

On how good of a week this was for him and the team, the two joint practices, and being out here as a group:

“Yeah, it’s awesome. Obviously, the Vikings what they put in last year and the regular season they had, and kind of the talent they have back, it’s great for us to go up to them in two days of practice and come out here and finish off preseason game. It’s a nice facility out here. I thought it was good work. Good for us to see different stuff, see different defenses, see a different talent. Coach [Brian] Flores has some good stuff on defense, so it’s good for us to see the stuff he does and kind of learn from it and carry it into the regular season. ”

(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.)

About Ian Logue

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.

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