Drake Maye: “You Have to Practice Hard.” | Patriots Press Conference

Drake Maye: “You Have to Practice Hard.” | Patriots Press Conference

How are you doing? What’s going on? I’m doing all right. Good practice. Good. Good. Another week. Another week. Back to it. What do you see from this round? This defense looks like they don’t give up a lot of yards. Yeah. Yeah, they’re really good. Yeah, they’re really good. Um, so they got one of the best players in football. Um, they have some young guys that are real good. Um, I think play some man. They play, you know, tight coverage. They’re probably one of the best quarterback duos we’ll see. Um, they get when they do mix up zone, they get good job of getting their eyes on the quarterback and making the plays on the football. Um, see that last week. So, we got a tough challenge and um you know, it’s going to start, you know, another game at home. So, um it’s going to be good getting back at home, but we know we got a tough challenge. Just to clarify that best player you’re referring to as M. Yeah. Yeah. Miles Garrett. Yeah. He’s uh um he’s one of the best players in the league and um he’s uh somebody you got to know um you got to know when where he’s at and u I think uh a lot of credit to him. plays hard and um he’s he’s disruptive and he’s good in the run game and the pass game and um it’s going to be you know a tough challenge. What’s the balance against a guy like that where you want to play your game but also the emphasis being get the ball out on time. So yeah, just be cognizant of um kind of the point of the play and u being good in quick game being good you know when we are trying to hold it a little longer um just know um know the outlets and you know we talk about outlets and scramble and throwaways and uh just being smart with the football and uh just just going out the next play. I think they do a good job um when they do get to the quarterback of of going after football especially um you know Miles and his career. So just being a good go two hands on it and uh knowing you know the outlets and knowing when the play you know may be over the league and completion percentage for seven weeks. What’s allowed you to be so accurate? Yeah, I think you pride yourself on actually trying to be accurate with the football. Um I think that’s something that you know goes just from practice individual drill trying to hit a guy in a spot on the shoulder or um I think the big thing is trying to be accurate for yards after the catch. I think there’s some point at times um throughout the season where I think you could be better getting more yards, putting in better spots for them to run after the catch and um credit to them. They’re making great plays and great plays on the ball and credit to the guys up front. They’ve been blocking their butts off. J, what does playing with patience to you when it comes down to staying in the pocket and deciding when to leave the pocket? Yeah. Um yeah, I’m trying to get to the guys um that are running the routes or um you know, whoever’s open before I you know, go off and run. They’re better runners than I am, but I think it keeps the defense honest. I think it keeps us honest. I think it’s uh good on third down to move the chains. I think sometimes, you know, defenses, you know, they probably hate when they got break covered and you scramble for a first down. Um, so just trying to um, you know, that I can, you know, make plays with my feet, but know also that, you know, it’s better getting the ball out to those guys who are better runners. Drake, when you went back and watched the film, did was there anything you noticed specifically or do you feel like the coaches are putting more of an emphasis on maybe sliding a little bit more considering you you did have to leave the game for that like concussion? Yeah. Um, I think there’s always emphasis on on sliding for me. I think they’ve they’ve said it since the beginning of the year. I think from last year, um, you know, taking hits and knowing being out there for the next plays, you know, most important. And I think, you know, credit to Dobs is maybe the play of the day. um he came in here and um you know evaded a sack and and threw a dime. So uh you know it was good to see that um from the blue tin. I was looking through the the little top of the blue 10 saw it. So uh but that no I think sliding and knowing you know when uh to get down and also uh knowing whether it’s a you know third down or near the end zone. Does it go against kind of your natural tendency you know in trying to make the most out of a play just to get down? Uh yeah, I I think it does, but it doesn’t when you start to get hit and you start to wake up the next morning. Um so I think it’s you’re starting to um you know know what it’s like, you know, with playing um you know, I give all the credit guys playing in in the trench in trenches and the linebackers and the O line dline of getting up um you know, the next day after you’re getting hit over and over and uh playing in the real war, I get the, you know, the easy part back there. So, uh, no, I don’t think it’s, you know, I’m competitive and and want to, you know, make the most out of every play, but also, um, got to be smart, you know, over that. How much does trust in the receivers factor into the decision making when you’re throwing some more contested contested catch throws downfield? Would you be more hesitant to throw those if you didn’t trust the receivers as much? Yeah, I think it just starts from going back to OTAAS, going back to seven on sevens and OTAAS with no pads on. Goes back to um you know, training camp them after practice, you know, wanting extra routes. You just build so much um just kind of trust from from me and and trust with me and keep on making plays and wanting to, you know, run routes after practice and go up and making plays and practice one-on-one. You just build uh you build that that trust and then from there it’s just, you know, get to the game, it’s no different. I’mma, you know, give them give them a ball they can try to go go up and get and they’ve they’ve done it time and time again. From a coverage standpoint, do you notice any anything distinct about their disguise or what they’re trying to get you to see? Um, I think they do a a good job when they’re man playing, man. They’re up on you and they do a good job of disguising to this kind of junk cover two look where um, you know, the deep safety comes in and plays the the middle runner. He’s good at you know, I think he caught a pick last week on it. So they do a good job of making plays out of it and uh I think it’s something that you got to be aware of and know when you know it looks like man and they go to zone or um you know throughout you know I think all downs they do a good job of it. So uh it was a great defense coordinator and they do a good job. That throw to the fourth down throw to pop um when you went back and watched that just what was it like to kind of see him? What was your reaction seeing him make that? Yeah, I remember throwing in the game and uh I heard a reaction of cheers. So, we’re in a away game, so I didn’t really know what what happened, but I think it was all our fans, you know, glad that he caught it. So, uh I lost him behind one of the linemen, but uh you know, what a catch. I think I saw it on the jumbotron after trying not to look on after the play up there, but uh I think that was a sweet catch. I told him today, hey, nice catch in the game out there at practice. It reminded me of he made a nice grab. So, um yeah, just I think just knowing you never know when you get to get the ball. It’s a play that maybe designed wasn’t for him. And um I saw it really early and maybe saw it too early before he you know turned his eyes but uh you know what a catch Drake they’re I think they’re second in the league in terms of how quickly they force quarterbacks to throw the football the Browns are. How do you try to stress them down the field when you know you’ve got to get rid of it quickly? Is that possible to mitigate? Yeah. Um shoot. You know what they’re they’re up they’re like up front. They’re trying to get up the field and get after the quarterback. And I think, you know, them getting the quarterback the ball out, part of it probably the teams wanted to get the ball out fast anyway. So, um just knowing with one-on-one opportunities and knowing, you know, when we do have um you know, more protection up front to try to take advantage of down the field throws. Um but I think their corners do a good job of um sitting on stuff because they know the ball may be out and their safeties do a good job of getting their eyes back because they know the they’re seeing the rush just like from their from their point of view. So, um, yeah, kind of have an even balance of, you know, knowing when to take shots and knowing when to kind of move the chains. You’re obviously confident guy, um, and you’ve had a lot of success, but is there any play this season or moment where you’ve surprised yourself at all? I wouldn’t say that. No, I think, you know, you try to replicate what you do in practice. I think, you know, a big believer in practice and um, you know, I think that’s, you know, one of the biggest things that I think we’re preaching here is you got to practice good and practice hard and um, shoot, I threw a interception to ponder last week in and in in scout team practice and just trying to, you know, battle adversity and um, he was a defensive end and dropped out and and got me. So, just bouncing that and and moving on from I think those things um, you know, help you grow and help you uh, shoot that may happen in the game and bounce back from it. So, um I wouldn’t say, you know, really surprised, just um just keep going and know that uh those guys around me got me. What can you do to kind of replicate uh the idea of kind of getting used to pressure and kind of working in the pocket when it comes to practice? Not not so much in the games or is it just a matter of reps? Yeah. Um shoot, that’s a good point. I think you can you can uh help watch the tape and and see, hey, you know, what are they doing and how’s the pocket look and hey, it’s uh you know, what down is it and and what’s it down in distance? are they how aggressive are they? And um on third down, we’re about to watch some third down, see what they like to do. So, I think just, you know, try to learn something from tape and um you learn the personnel, what those guys like to do. And um I think the guys up front are trying to be, you know, really good at blocking inside out. And then from there in practice, just try to um you’ll stand in there and u maybe take some hits. You may take some hits that you maybe in the past couple weeks I may not have when trying to let you know, one go before taking a hit. And um just knowing that, you know, just trying to stand in there and um you know, keep delivering even, you know, with the guys up front. Um but I know those guys up front can do a good job. Drake, we’ve seen you hit the the whole shot and cover two like quite a bit this year. Just what about that throw gives you confidence to keep going after that one? Yeah. Um shoot. I think just um Yeah, I think it’s one of those throws that you you try to you always say, “Hey, the the whole shot’s open.” when you look back on film and be like, man, I should have thrown the whole shot here. And it’s one of those things when I’m starting to see cover two, it’s one of those, hey, you know, I think it’s take advantage of it. It’s one of the the voids in the defense and um you know, growing up playing a lot of uh seven on seven and um they say that seven on seven wasn’t great for football, but it’s great for quarterbacks seeing you know, whole shots and throwing hole shots and you know, throwing some pace on it and uh still getting some arcs. So, uh you know, glad Mac made a great play and we u think it’s become a more thing in the league of of trying to show different things and go to cover two. So, it’s uh it’s something that you I like doing. It’s it’s a it’s one of my um new favorite throws. So, thank you guys.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye addresses the media on Wednesday, October 22, 2025.

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