TRANSCRIPT: Drake Maye Press Conference 1/7
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Here’s what New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had to say during his press conference on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.
On this being his first playoff go around, and how does he keep from getting over-amped or over-hyped at the start of the game:
“Yeah, I think what Coach has been preaching is just don’t change our process, our preparation throughout the week, what we’ve been doing. I think the natural thing is trying to … some do get a little more amped, I think it’s natural as a human, for a big game. I think just trust what you’ve been doing. I told these guys at the end of the season before the playoffs came, to put some extra work in to stay after practice. Some guys have been throwing extra routes and little things like that that can go a long way. But don’t do anything out of the ordinary and I think that’s the biggest thing. Trust what you’ve been doing. Trust the preparation you’ve been doing all season. And trust your coaches, your teammates around you, and just go out there, have fun. It’s playoff football. So you got to bring your best, and everybody knows that. So that’s the expectation, and just trying to live up that and just trying to be myself.”
On the fact that he said last year that when he played Madden as a teenager, he used to play as Derwin James, and what appealed to him about him then and maybe what stands out about him:
“Yeah, he’s relentless. He’s a great football player. Played him last year and got to know him a little bit at the Pro Bowl. He’s a great dude. He flies around. He’s got good instincts. He’s punching at the ball. He’s good in the run game, good in the pass game. He plays some man coverage on third down. He’s always around the football. He’s got a knack for the football, and he’s had that probably since he started playing. He’s a good player, a lot of strength from him, and we got to find out on every play where he’s at. They got some really good players, they’re physical as a team, and they have some good guys on the edge. They’re smart, and they’ve played together for a little bit, so they got a good squad.”
On the fact there’s a big difference between college and professional, but he experienced the 2022 ACC Championship Game and how does that translate to what he’s getting ready for here in the NFL Playoffs, if there is any correlation:
“Yeah, I think maybe a little bit getting back to trying to play for championships. I think there’s always something on the line when you got to try to play at your best. And just replicating that. I think it’s a little bit different in the NFL type of ball game and just the mentality of ‘win or go home’ or ‘win and advance.’ I think that’s the biggest thing that’s different. In the ACC Championship, you go to a bowl game, but here it’s now, or you’re going home. So that’s the mindset, and that’s what you try to not let… Coach says, take no naps, not let plays throughout the game that can affect the game. Realize that, Hey, I’m going to try to do everything I can to realize I’m in this position and try to do whatever we can on each drive and try not to waste drives, waste plays, and waste our opportunity that we have.”
On comfortable he is with being ‘nitpicky’ with his receivers and how he feels like he’s grown there:
“Yeah, I think becoming harder on them comes with learning them and them respecting our relationship together. I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned is get to know them and have some success with them, have some failure with them and learn, ‘Hey, what do you like here?’ ‘Hey, how do you feel like I threw this ball to you?’ These guys have responded to me great all year. They want the ball. Every receiver does, but they take criticism well, and they don’t take it personally. They just want to help the team, and they’re blocking downfield. They’re doing all the little things. I think kind of as I get older, I’ll probably start getting more mad when they don’t line up correctly. But I think I try to know what position they’re in, especially if they’re young. We got a young group for the most part. But the older guys like Stef, they like it when I get fired up a little bit.
On the match up against Justin Herbert, and if he looks at it that way as a quarterback that he’s on the other side or if he’s largely focused on the defense:
“I think you play the defense. You play who you’re out there on the field against, and I think the quarterback matchups is one of the things that’s natural for people to do. But I think I’m playing against 11 guys on defense, and unless he rolls out there on defense, I don’t expect him to do that. I’m focused on defense and we got a tough job.”
On the fact he describes his leadership style where he’s focused more on getting to know guys and he’s not chewing them out if they do something wrong, and where he learned to treat that part of your job in that way:
“I think, literally when I transferred schools in high school. I transferred schools after my first freshman year and became the starting quarterback at a school my sophomore year. I was just trying to learn the team, learn the guys, and try to earn respect from the guys at a new school. I hadn’t been around any of the players. I knew a little bit of them from playing in offseason seven on seven, but just learning the guys and trying to respect them and them respect how I work and how I treat people. From there, just try to translate that to college, of learning a new group and translated everywhere I’ve gone since then. I think that’s the biggest thing. I think the guys respect it. I think you’ll see more and more down the road as I get older, me getting on the guys and kind of earning their respect from, ‘Man, I want to be in the right spot for Drake and line up right.’ It comes with me being successful on the field and me doing my part as well.”
On the fact four deep zones are typically thought of as a prevent style defense and if he sees it the same way, and if there are still ways he can be aggressive against those kinds of looks:
“Yeah, 100 %. I think one of the Chargers, one of the things that they do best is have eyes on the quarterback. They force a lot of three-an-outs. I think they’re one of the top five defenses in forcing three-an-outs. They keep people in front of you. They don’t have a lot of X players on them. They try to limit big plays. And I think that’s one of the biggest things I see from them on tape. And they’re good on the edge. They’re physical. I think from an attacking standpoint, any coverage, there’s always voids. So I think we’ve seen about all of them you can see this year, and we’ve had success, and we’ve had some plays that we wish to have back against them.”
On the point about X plays, they have the best deep ball defense, statistically, in the whole league, and how does he balance understanding that’s a strength of theirs, not operating underneath, or not conceding entirely, a big part of his offense:
“Yeah, I think you just take chances when they’re there. I think one-on-one coverage, you got to take chances. One-on-one, I like our guys. They’re making plays on the football when they have one-on-one coverage. I like putting ball placement and getting them a chance to go make a play. At the same time, just be patient. Don’t get bored, being efficient and executing underneath, and letting things come to you. I think that’s the biggest thing is starting off and staying on track on first down, first and second down, and knowing that when we’re behind the sticks, they have the advantage.”
On if he’s heard the Drake Maye anthems this week:
“I have not. I think somebody told me about him, maybe Stef [Stefon Diggs]. But I haven’t heard that. Who knows? It’s probably something… I don’t know if it’s good or bad.”
On how he would best describe his feelings coming to this game, and if he’s confident, if he’s anxious, is he nervous, is he excited, if he’s all of it:
“Yeah, there’s obviously a little bit of mixed emotions. I think the biggest thing is excited. Excited to get an opportunity to play home playoff games. That’s what we kind of started at the beginning of the season of things we want to do here and goals we want to accomplish. We got our chance and opportunity right here. So take advantage of playing in front of a crowd that’s been great all year, a crowd that I expect to be loud, and a night game against an opponent that has had some playoff experience and has a great offense and a great defense. So, we got our hands full, but looking forward to playing in front of this crowd.”
On after playing as much jumbo as they have the last four weeks, what has that done for him as a passer, but also the offense:
“Yeah, it’s a good chance to get them in big people. Also, sometimes we’ve got three receivers in there and have a jumbo tight end. So just trying to mix it up, give them some different looks in the run game. Adds an extra hat, a guy that’s better at blocking then a guy that’s sitting over there on the bench. So it adds a sixth offensive lineman. And I think that’s one of the biggest things. And being able to throw the football off play action and drop back and some different things all starts with, you have to run the football. And I’m really proud of the guys, especially up front for how they’ve handled that. And I’ve had the best view in the house and from my point of view, some of these big runs and just blocked up beautiful, and it’s fun to watch.”
On if he feels like he still has things to prove this season, or if he tries not to look at things that way:
“Things to prove? No, I wouldn’t say that. I think just prove to my teammates, try to be the same player during the regular season as hopefully in the postseason. And that starts with me playing well and knowing that every week my job is huge, it’s big. I got to play well for us to win. I know that’s the nature of this league and nature of the position. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.”
On Rhamondre Stevenson, a lot of the focus last season and early this season was the fumbling issue to now looking ahead to the production he’s had and now winning the AFC Offensive Player of the Week, and what he’s seen from him in terms of coming in every day, working, and just his mindset throughout all that:
“Yeah, his mindset really hasn’t changed. So proud of the way he’s bounced back, had some things off the field that he’s just kept on pushing. And he’s been a great teammate. He’s always been a great teammate. He’s a great football player. Coach shows some high school highlights in the film room sometimes. And watch him in high school, he’s got the same little jump cut, and he’s hard to tackle. He’s got great contact balance. Like I said, after the game, he does it in all three phases. The amount of pickup blocks, he told me, he needs a gift like the old lineman, and he probably does. The way he’s blocked this year, he’s been one of the best in the league, and it’s comforting having 38 back there. It’s been awesome to see how him and TreVeyon [Henderson] have molded their role in this football team. And those two backs are huge for our success, and will continue to get better and better.”
(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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