HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, October 11, 2026

Q: Mike, what did you like about the way your team responded to what you were able to do last Sunday to take into this week into this game?

MV: Not- last week doesn't matter. Today's not gonna matter here in about 10 minutes. We're gonna have to focus on the Jets in the division here at home. We still have a lot to improve and to clean up.

Q: Mike, you said earlier this week that Maxx Crosby can pretty much do whatever he wants. He didn't do much of anything in this one. How did you guys slow him down?

MV: Uh, just proud of our offensive line, and I wanna recognize them. Uh, I thought that they understood what the protection was and how to keep the middle of the pocket clean. There was a lot of time for us to progress down the field, and then they run blitz zero, and we blocked it up and was able to hit some plays down the field. And so that's a testament to them for understanding what they have to be able to do, and guys stepped up. You know, Caleb [Lomu] had to go in there, and, you know, everybody, we had all hands on deck.

Q: You guys entered the game with four active wide receivers, three active corners. You just talked about Caleb going into the game. Like, why do you think this team has been able to embrace the next man up?

MV: 'Cause that's what it has to be. You know what I mean? It's, we try not to panic. We try not to, uh… We just try to get the next guy ready. We ask everybody to prepare as a starter, so credit to the football players, you know, particularly the guys on this team, uh, the guys that we've tried to bring in here. And they realize that when you get an opportunity and you do something with it, then you get more opportunities.

Q: Players obviously did a great job today, but what do you make of the coaching staff? The offense gains 500 yards, missing all those pieces. The defense shut down the Raiders, missing four corners. What do you think of the, how the coaching staff responded this week?

MV: You know what I mean? Again, I think all the credit goes to the players. Um, you know, w- when, you know, Josh [McDaniels] and, and, and Zak [Kuhr] and Jeremy [Springer], they do a fantastic job. I think our coaches are, are great, and they understand the game plan, and they try to get their players ready. But ultimately, that's what they expect. That's what they expect of themselves. But, you know, the credit goes to the players to be able to go out and put a bunch of yards up and get short yardage stops or get third down stops and understand how to, you know, sudden change and getting their guys ready and a lot of moving parts and go and hurry up and throughout most of the fourth quarter, you know, getting other guys in different spots. So, they expect that. They have high expectations of themselves as coaches, and I'm lucky to be able to have them.

Q: Coach, how good does it feel to have some consistency here the last two weeks and start getting your footing here in terms of the way you're playing?

MV: Mm, I mean, there's a lot to improve on. There's a lot to work on. The penalties are ridiculous, so, you know, we'll have to focus on that and, you know, figure out, mm, things that we can improve on, which there'll be a lot of.

Q: Mike, speaking of things that have been, Drake's [Maye] decision-making today, be it the throwaways, and not having a turnover, what did you see there that you liked?

MV: I mean, all the things that you talked about. I felt like he was in control and, you know, gave him some time, and we always talk about when we have clean pockets and his ability to transfer up into, you know, really good pockets that, you know, we're gonna gain yards. And, you know, being able to recognize man or zone or where he wants to go with the football and the timing of it and, you know, it was unfortunate he got the grounding or whatever, you know, you wanna call that, um, because he's, you know, trying to get rid of the football to an eligible receiver, and, you know, seven officials couldn't, couldn't see, you know, Hunter standing there. Why are you guys laughing?

Q: What'd you think of the run game overall today?

MV: I think inconsistent. You know, there was some good ones in there, and then we got too many for, you know, no yardage. We just wanna be able to stay consistent with that and… But there was some good ones there at the end, and I thought it was just enough, and Drake made some good decisions with his legs.

Q: Mike, why do you think the offense was so efficient with four of those scoring drives under three minutes today?

MV: Well, we hit some X plays. You know, I think just the, the, the guys hit X plays, and Kyle Williams, you know what I mean? Again, I think this is something that we focused on is he probably started blocking his guy a little too soon on a screen, and they called him for offensive pass interference, and he doesn't let that affect him. He comes back and runs an amazing route, and Drake gives him a great ball. And so, you know, the players were able to stay focused on the next play and understand that the, the history of the last play or the history of last week, it doesn't have any bearing on what their performance has to be on the next play.

Q: I'm curious with Kindle Vildor, obviously with all the injuries at cornerback, just how do you feel he stepped up today and performed?

MV: Yep, just exactly what we would expect. You know, that's why we, you know, had him in that position and had ability for him to be elevated or get signed and step in there and compete. And nothing was perfect. Nothing is ever gonna be perfect, but, you know, for him to understand what he has to do and, you know, great opportunistic hammer and turnover and punch out there, it's, you know, the competitive spirit of some of these guys is, is really truly special.

Q: You talked about the wide receiver depth a lot this summer. What'd you see from Pop [DeMario Douglas], Kyle [Williams], and Efton [Chism III] in this game?

MV: All of them. You know what I mean? They're all ready to go. They all play different positions. That's not easy, you know, to learn three different positions and being able to step in there and block and make plays. The ball found each and every one of them. And I think Todd [Downing] does a great job, and I think they all care about each other. Those receivers, they, they don't care who catches the ball. They don't care who catches a touchdown. They're just as excited for the next guy if it was them, and I think that that's truly what we wanna build around here, you know? And I gotta get it to be the entire team. I gotta get the entire team to look at it like that.

Q: Doesn't sound like you were very happy, but given all the injuries that you came in with and suffered during the game, the effort all across the board, was that-

MV: I'm happy. You know what I mean? There's just a lot of things that we have to do to improve, and we have to come back. Again, the players, the effort in which they play with and being able to get stops in the red zone and finish off drives and not let penalties affect us, like, those are all positives. Those are things that crumbled us early in the year, especially offensively, and so we were able to overcome that. But eventually, you're not gonna be able to overcome some of the mistakes that we made and some of the penalties. And, you know, so again, we're, we're never gonna be satisfied. We're gonna enjoy this, and we're gonna get back to work and figure out who's available, try to put a plan together to beat the Jets here at home in another division game. So, I'm extremely happy. Thank you.

QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, October 11, 2026

Q: Hey, Drake. Given all the injuries you headed into the game with as well as the injuries you occurred during the game, how gratifying was it for you to pretty much post points almost every single drive?

DM: Yeah, I'm just proud of these guys for stepping up. I mean, offense, defense, overall as a football team, that's a – I think we talk about identity with Coach [Mike] Vrabel. I mean, that's a Coach Vrabel football team of stepping up, being ready to take advantage of your opportunity, and he always says when somebody gets their opportunity, he's excited to watch them play, and I think guys are living that, and you saw that today.

Q: Drake, you talked about kind of keep going up, keep climbing up. What did you take out of last week into today, and how good did you feel out there running that offense?

DM: Yeah, I think Coach [Josh] McDaniels was – it was beautiful. It was beautiful to be a part of today. He was clicking on all cylinders, making us look good, and we were executing. I think that's what it's like when we put some things together and, and we still have some. I mean, it's crazy to say we still got some, some left to to squeeze. I think, uh, you know, we had a fumble, and I think there's still a turnover-free game and when we get down there in the, the red zone, had a chance to roam on the on the fade and missed them, so there's still some out there, but I'm proud of the guys, the way they stepped up and proud of this football team for complementary football. We fumbled it. We got a stop, we went down and scored, so it was cool to be a part of.

Q: Hi, Drake. You have converted back-to-back, you converted the fourth downs in back-to-back games in multiple occasions and scored, so is this something that you guys want to build into your offensive identities moving forward?

DM: Yeah, I mean, from last year, Coach Vrabel, like early on, I remember, you know, Miami going for it even against the Raiders the first game. We went for it on fourth down, and he set the tone for, us wanting to get back in the huddle and me knowing, I think it's a big advantage knowing on third and, you know, third and longer or third and medium, we got two downs, and it gives, me and Coach McDaniels some extra room to operate and be on the same page with the call and trying to get us some fourth and manageable, and I think we keep on proving him right. We gotta keep on doing that to earn his trust and keep his trust.

Q: Drake, obviously big plays, explosives were a big part of the offense last year. How, how does it feel to be able to get back to that part of the offense the last couple weeks where you're hitting those big plays down the field?

DM: Yeah, I think just like I've said in previous ones, we gotta hit 'em when we get the chance to, and we hit most of them today. We still have some that I think we could've even had some more explosives, so I'm proud of the guys for executing when we got the chance. Thought everybody was making plays, different amount of guys and just proud of the guys for being willing to go in there, move some formations around when guys go down and, and still, um, you know, be on the same page and execute.

Q: Robert [Spillane] was just saying that you were smiling on the sideline and just really confident in the way you played today. Did you feel that way and just those sideline smiles, what did it just feel like on the field to drive and getting your guys the ball the way you did?

DM: It's just awesome for me to see guys like Caleb getting in there and playing his butt off and different guys and Pop [DeMario Douglas] have been playing and running routes, well all year and finally getting rewarded, and it's just, I just love to see guys that do the right things over and over and finally get rewarded in the game, and I think that's one of the best things about my position is able to spread the wealth and see other guys succeed and it's beautiful to watch.

Q: Drake, confidence is such a big word in sports. Did anything click? Was it one thing you could say kind of got you going in that right direction for yourself, what you've done the last two weeks, or is it just kind of working with Josh and self-reflection and kind of moving forward that way?

DM: Yeah, I'm gonna be confident going into every game. I'm confident in the guys around me, confident in myself, and I think it's just really just a example of practice execution showing up in the game, and I think that's the biggest thing that I can maybe hint at is, is guys in practice that are treating the walkthroughs and times when we're even in the reps we have in full speed and making 'em count and realizing that practice, the looks we get in practice can show up in the game. If they don't, just being on the same page and finding ways to move the ball, and we did that today.

Q: First of all, the, the hook and lateral, was that a design play from [Efton] Chism [III] to Pop Douglas?

DM: I think Chis just made a great decision. He saw TreVeyon [Henderson] over there and gave him the throw.

Q: You seem so calm and poised back there today. Even when there was rush, you made the flip, you made really good decisions. Do you feel the game slowing down for you a little bit now? Do you feel like you're kind of playing like you were last year?

DM: Like I said, I'm gonna come into every game and every week and attack it, and I'm confident in myself and my abilities and the guys around me, and, and part of it in the first touchdown to Pop, I'm back there, credit the offensive line eating a ham sandwich, so I got all day back there. I think that's things I'm working on back there when I got time just to sit in there and find somebody open, and credit those big guys and credit Coach McDaniels and the coaching staff for putting us in a good place to execute it, and we did that today. So thank you, guys.

ADDITIONAL PATRIOTS PLAYERS

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