Here’s what Drake Maye had to say following Monday Night’s win over the Giants:
On how much did he and the team just feed off the energy and what was that like to watch all three phases take it to them from the start:
“I think it starts with Coach saying no naps. You want to come out here and start fast. We knew this team has been up in a lot of games, and they had good players over there. They had some good talent, and we wanted to try to get on them fast. Marcus [Jones] helped us with that. What a return for him. The kickoff return, I mean, kickoff coverage. I think just all phases of the game showed up at different points, and I still think offensively in the second half, we got to put some more drives together to put the game out of reach.”
On the fact Coach Vrabel just said that he’s realizing what he can be and the impact that he makes on the offense and what that is to him:
“Shoot, just trying to be the face, try to be the conductor. He calls it the conductor of the offense. Trying to be the face of the offense, want the pressure. You want the ball in my hands. I’ve tried to show that all year and throughout my career. That’s what I kind of feel like. I know they feed off of me and feed off my energy and feed off of what I say to those guys and what I say means something to them. So just know when adversity hits, I got to respond. And then from there, I just got to be the same guy, the same guy every day. Don’t try to change and just be myself. That’s what the guys like the most.”
On the fact he hears those MVP chants a lot and whether he hears them or not, they’re there, and if he thinks he’s mounting maybe a campaign for Coach of the Year, as well as the fact he promised to shave his mustache and if he’s happy about that:
“Exactly. I thought it looked good. I think it was for a great cause. I think the awards, he’ll probably say the same thing. He’s worried about each and every week, and that stuff will come. But he’s got my vote, and he’s got a lot of people’s vote. He’s got everybody’s vote in this organization and in that locker room, and I’m sure across the league.”
On the fact his coach referenced the hit the other quarterback got and playing through the whistle, and he intimated that that might have been a subtle reminder to him on certain plays, on being careful about being taken down hard and if that resonated with him in any fashion, and if there was there any winking or eye contact from his coach after that play:
“No, I think it’s something that’s been across the league for me that showed up with quarterbacks near the boundary or near the sideline, just kind of relaxing. I think I learned last year, the Chargers, I had one on that same sideline over there. I got smacked on the sideline. So just be smart and know you almost got to accelerate or get down or do something over there. But I think Jackson [Dart], he makes some good plays with his feet, so he’s tough to handle.”
On if his coach didn’t look at him and give him one of these [winks] or anything like that:
“Yeah, I don’t think you needed it. I don’t think you need to. You heard the hit from the sideline, so I think everybody in the stadium knew.”
On what went as planned and what might have surprised him, if anything:
“I think starting fast. I think starting fast went as planned. That’s what we wanted to do. I think we had some play designs that Coach had, and we practiced all week that worked. I think that’s the biggest thing is that we knew they had a new coordinator calling it for the first time, so they’re going to bring some stuff that we didn’t expect. I think we tried to handle the guys up front. They had a great rush, great players up front. I thought the guys did that all night. The one sack we had was my fault. I think from there, I think just coach saying no naps. I think we need to do a better job in second half of living that and putting them out of reach and getting them across midfield and putting a drive together to score a touchdown.”
On the fact there were backups today at left tackle and left guard and what was the key for the guys on offense to minimize that impact:
“No, I told them I had full faith in them. We got a lot of reps last year of dropping back and I trust those guys. I think they’re great players, and they’ve stepped up, like I said, pregame. I think they’ve stepped up all year. Anybody’s been thrown in the fire. Just proud of them for working hard and learning this offense and staying on the same page and being on the same page all night and doing a great job tonight.”
On how cognizant guys were of the bye and wanting to win going into the bye and how much is this team in need of this bye from both a physical and mental standpoint:
“Yeah, I think wanting to win before the bye, we want to win every game. I know we don’t want to leave off on the bye on a bad foot with a whole Monday night game. I think it was important for us to play on Monday night and show up for our fans. It was a game that we didn’t want to take lightly. I think the guys did that, proud of those guys for that. And then the bye week’s huge. It felt like a long time coming, but we’re here and we got some important football after the bye week. So we’re looking forward to staying and getting healthy and having guys want to get better. And I’m looking forward to getting some guys back and make a push when football starts to count down the road.”
On if he’s ever been on this kind roll in either this sport or any other sport, whether it’s hoops, golf:
“Golf, I like that one. My brother’s this summer. I was on a roll a little bit. No, but I think back in high school, shoot, we won 13 straight. But really, I think in college, I think we may have won eight or nine straight. Yeah, in football, both in football. But no, this is a different beast. This is the NFL.”
On his play being the backbone behind these 10 wins:
“I wish it was all me. There’s a lot of people in this locker room, this organization that play a big role in us winning games. And, shoot, just like you, showing up every day and making fun of you all for being in the locker room on a Friday, asking us questions after practice. These guys are the same thing. They show up every day and they want to get better. I think I’m proud of the guys from this team we have, and I love being around them.”
On the fact they scored to make it a two possession game and if there was any discussion going into that final drive just to ice the game:
“Yeah, it was big. It was big in the second half. You knew that they got a good offense and can move the ball. So we had to put a drive together and put one down at the end to kick a field goal. Like I said, we won’t be satisfied with that. We got to try to punch it in to get the game really out of reach. But our defense has made big stops in the fourth quarter all year long. Just proud of these guys, like I said. Good Lord, has treated us right, and we got to keep going.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript was done based on the available footage and is subject to typographical errors. If you spot anything, please 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.
