Here’s what New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had to say during his press conference with reporters on Wednesday, June 11th, 2026.
On how things are going for him and AJ Brown, and the fact it looks like they’re starting to connect fairly easily.
“It’s hard not to get excited. You know what a player he is, and just start off the bat, what a great teammate so far. He’s eager to learn. He’s great with the guys in the locker room and we just look forward to playing with a guy of that caliber. I know he’s been a great player in this league. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s been a guy that you see him on SportsCenter the next day, making plays and scoring. And the best thing about him, he’s been a winner. He knows what it’s like to win. And he’s had someone in that room that you really, we’re kind of looking for. And I think that’s the best thing. I think Stef provided it for us last year and there’s been guys that are growing in their roles, but just coming in with that stature and his ability and his size. Just the respect that you walk in there with, that kind of Stef had, AJ’s got it too.
On where he is this year minicamp-wise now with Josh [McDaniels], as far as feeling comfortable with the offense and doing what he does:
“I think it’s just naturally night and day from last year at this time. I was trying to get things right, trying to get guys, know where I was, making calls, and getting guys lined up. And now we’re just kind of taking the next steps. And that’s the best thing about this time. You get to, work on those things and also work on kind of executing. And that’s the best thing. Coach McDaniels is pushing me hard, and he’s challenging me to try not to get comfortable during OTAs and getting comfortable of just doing things and being out here and just making throws. There’s a reason, and there’s a why to it. And that’s the best thing about Coach McDaniels. He’s so good about explaining that why and helping me get to know that why, so I can play faster.”
On the fact it’s a bigger group of receivers overall and what does it do for him as a quarterback to potentially look across the line and have a whole group of bigger targets?
“Yeah, it’s comforting. No doubt we got guys up there that are— a lot stronger than me in the weight room when I’m dumbbell benching with them. So, I think it’s also something that adds in the run game. It brings kind of physicality to us, to down here in the red zone, makes it easier. Contested catches, really are, they always say 50/50. We’re trying to make them that way. And that’s when you got guys that can make plays like that. So, I grew up throwing to my brothers my whole life that are 6’7″ and tall and big across the middle. So I’m used to throwing guys of that size. That’s awesome.”
On the fact he talked about, the 50/50 balls, which is something A.J. Brown is known for, is being able to get those contested catches, and what about his game has he seen in that kind of aspect? And is he excited about having a receiver that, if he throws that ball, he’s gonna do everything he can to make that ball:
“Yeah. It’s really just on me to give him a chance to touch it. Cause more times than not, he’s gonna bring it in. So that’s exciting. And just knowing that, a slant or something, a quick out, something that you can just give him the ball. He can go and break some tackles, and he’s tough to tackle, and guys don’t wanna tackle. So, Romeo [Doubs] brings that, Mack [Hollins] brings that, we’ve got some guys that are tougher to tackle than you think. And then when you get up there, and you’re guarding them, you’re like, ‘Man, he can catch a slant and take it the distance.’ So that’s kind of more of my mindset to, be on time, make good throws and let them run with it.”
On the fact there’s obviously a lot of focus on A.J. Brown, but Damario Douglas has also been a favorite target of his in these early practices, and what has he seen from him and how has that connection grown between them:
“Man, since I got here as a rookie, he always just does the right thing. He does the right thing, makes the right plays. Makes catches. He’s hard to cover. Like I said, you can’t guard him in a phone booth and he’s so good at breaking off of man coverage. He’s a mismatch. he’s so hard to, to stay in front of and, looking forward to kind of seeing his role kind of grow bigger.”
On where does he feel like he’s improved the most:
“Improved the most? I think that’s what you’re out here doing. You’re still trying to improve. it’s hard for me to gauge. I’m just kind of just focused day to day and, really not trying to pinpoint an area, trying to get better in all areas. I think it’s hard to pinpoint that. I think one thing is just making the right decision, when, in the first few seconds I have the ball in my hand, making the right decision, knowing that sometimes incompletions are kind of the best plays and not trying to hold the ball too long and kind of get out of the habit of really trying to extend plays just because I feel like I haven’t extended a play in a while.”
On the fact Josh [McDaniels] said earlier that he has a rare ability to think ahead, to be ahead a couple of plays, and when did he develop this ability to be able to do that, and what does it mean to him to be able to do that:
“I think it’s just running plays or being in a formation and just, kind of the love for, ‘Hey, next time in that formation, and maybe we can do this.’ I think whether it’s playing Madden or getting out there at a young age with my dad and being in the formation and throwing a hitch route, and you thought the corner jumped it in middle school. So next time you run a hitch and go, little things like that where you just pick up on little things and ‘Hey, maybe try this.’ And, Coach McDaniels is the best in the business at it. So just trying to learn as much as he can from there.
On how has the line of scrimmage maybe been altered this year? Mike [Vrabel] was talking about being maybe a little bit more deliberate at the line of scrimmage, taking more ownership. And I don’t want to misrepresent what he was saying, but just operating at the line of scrimmage, how has he tried to do that? Ashton [Grant] and Josh were just talking about how they’ve challenged him at the line, and he’s gone up to the line with maybe no play call, and then it’s on you to sort of diagnose what’s happening. Just how’s that process been going, and how does he feel like the feedback?
“It’s kind of trying to be a play caller, it’s tough in this environment when they got 18 seconds on the clock in practice and I’m trying to, do a hard count and try and get us in a play that we like. So, I think it’s awesome to challenge me and to push my limits of knowing the offense, knowing what play looks good against what the defense is up. And, the best thing that we kind of been trying to focus on is kind of limiting negative plays, negative plays in this league, put you behind the chains, whether it’s in the red zone, in base downs, or just trying to stay ahead of the chains and knowing that, it’s really on me to put us in good plays, get us out of bad plays and keep the chains, stay ahead of the chains.
On if he can talk a little bit about what this last activity was that they were doing on the field with those sleds? It looked like team building, like kind of talk us through what that was:
“We split up into teams. Split up the families at the beginning of the offseason. Kind of had about 13 teams, had some captains in each team and some different guys and had about 7 players in each. So we’ve kind of been keeping a point tally, kind of how we’ve been doing with the families. I think my family’s maybe in second, so we got some work to do to get that kind of final first place push. But yeah, the lowest time to come out here and push some sleds and try to compete against each other and just another way of team building. competing and having to strategize and, kind of have something that may not go right and try to fix it.
On what the winning team gets:
“Yeah, we asked that. We asked that in leadership group. Coach, I think Vrabel’s kind of coming up with something. So hopefully something pretty good.”
On what it’s to him over the course of last year, plus going up against a guy like Carlton Davis on a regular basis?
“Man, CD’s been awesome. He’s awesome in the locker room. We get out there before practice, he’s saying, ‘Hey, throw one at me and come challenge me today.’ So, he wants work and he’s proven in this league as a guy to make plays on the football. He’s one of the best at being physical, being on his man in man coverage. And, he’s a winner, he’s won it and he knows what it’s like to win. And obviously done a lot of things right in his career. So it’s awesome to have him and Gonzo and even some more corners and DBs, that back end group that they got over there. It was a real tough challenge for us and, us receivers. So it’s been awesome. And CeeDee’s just, He’s always in a great mood, and he’s fun to be out here with.”
On if it’s nice to have Kayshon Boutte out there:
“Yeah, it always is.”
(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.
