HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, September 27, 2026

What's your concern level with Drake [Maye]?

My concern level is very high for this football team. I just want to coach and improve. So, I think that's the biggest thing is when you come off a game like that, that you just want to get back and work. There's nothing you can do about it, but we have to take care of the football. And I mean, we can't force things. We can't do things in all three phases that end up getting you beat. So certainly, we have to fix a lot of things.

Whose decision making was a strength last year, and through the first three games it feels like it's not been?
MIKE VRABEL: No. And it doesn't feel like it hasn't been. We haven't made good decisions with the football. So, we have to get it fixed. We have to practice. We have to work to get it corrected, and everybody else has to do much better, and it starts with me. That's how it goes. It starts with me, and I gotta get guys in there to do the things the way that we need them done and the identity, and there's going to be mistakes, but there's too many things that get us beat. Turnovers, not taking advantage of their turnover opportunities. Penalties, sudden change, things that we're usually good at. And so we'll have to figure out why and do it in a hurry. We're going on the road to Buffalo.

Do you feel like your quarterback [QB Drake Maye] is almost like kind of like baseball in a slump right now, maybe mentally?
MIKE VRABEL: Again, I don't think — again, I think he knows what to do. I think we have to do it better. And, again, we all want to make plays. We just have to make them good ones. I mean, if it's not there, we gotta make a great decision, and I think sometimes you can want it too badly and we can't force anything.

You said you think he knows what to do, but it seems like he's hesitating a lot. That's a recurring thing for the first three weeks. Can you share that sort of process?
MIKE VRABEL: Yeah. Again, when I say knows what to do, I think formationally, in the plays and everything else and then just being able to react to the defenses and the looks. That just comes with being confident with what you do and knowing if you're going to go on the first hitch or if you're going to be able to check it down and where the spots are. And, again, we gotta make sure that everybody around him is doing their job and doing their part. Can't have his arm get hit or something else and get pressured. Just not doing a good enough job of coaching or playing consistently.

Are you seeing this type of performance from Drake [Maye] in practice?
MIKE VRABEL: Again, I think our practice consistency on all levels, in all three phases has to improve. I mean, I think that that's just — we feel like the practice execution leads to game reality. We have to build confidence throughout the week, and we have to continue to do that and translate that on to the football field on Sundays.

To be more specific, the turnovers, have you seen plays like you have today, the turnovers in practice?
MIKE VRABEL: No. I wouldn't say that the ball has been turned over like it was here today in practice.

Do you think Drake's confidence is shaken?
MIKE VRABEL: I mean, I think you need to ask Drake that. I don't have control of the players' psyche. You know what I mean? We're professional football players. We're professional coaches. We have to prepare. We have to be willing to, you know, like we said, prepare to start fast. Again, you have to be also prepared to compete and take advantage of the opportunities, not miss kicks, score touchdowns in the red zone, get red zone stops; it just was everything. So, (it) starts with me. I'll have them better prepared. I'm going to commit to improving this football team and the guys that we have here.

Is there anything that you'd do differently this week, Mike, as a coach?
MIKE VRABEL: The game ended five minutes ago. So, I'm going to think about everything, you know, from now until the time that we practice. We're going to meet. We're going to watch it. We'll show the good, the bad and the stuff that gets us beat tomorrow, and I'll think of everything I possibly can for us to perform better.

What do you think you can do to help Drake?
MIKE VRABEL: I mean, again, try to show him the looks, try to give him – me, personally, again, I try to talk to him about, you know, just taking the ball and putting it where it's supposed to go. And he's 24 years old. Like we're not dealing with a 35-year-old quarterback here. He's a young quarterback. I want him to go and be energetic and talk to him about just, can't be a robot here. We gotta go. And you saw sometimes where he extended plays and kept his eyes down field and made plays, and then also we just can't turn it over the rate that we're turning it over, especially down in the red zone.

Mike, Morgan [Moses] was to sit before the rest of the offensive starters. What was the reason for him being sidelined?
MIKE VRABEL: I just made a decision. You know what I mean? It's a long season. Morgan is 36 years old. I don't know what to tell you. Didn't think we were going to come back and win the game. As much as I wished that we were, I didn't think that we were. So I made a decision.

Is his starting job in jeopardy?
MIKE VRABEL: Not that I'm aware of. I mean, again, I didn't have a chance to watch the tape, but it was like let's get Caleb [Lomu] some reps. We were down however much we were down, a shit load. So, no. But, again, that was just me making a decision.

There was a handful of pre-snap penalties. What does that say to you?
MIKE VRABEL: That means they hard counted us, and we have to be better and not jump. And, again, I know what they're thinking. They're thinking that they want to get off and they want to try to make a play. And then, again, it's taking advantage of our aggressiveness. They want to get off the ball. I know what they're thinking. And we have to be able to lock in and understand that this is what they're going to do. You know, that's certainly not anything that we want to see, and that was poor.

Mike, I know right after the game, big picture, though, one and two and you have an opportunity to go to Buffalo. Do you kind of like hey, let's take one play at a time?
MIKE VRABEL: Well, mean, I think it's one day at a time. It's what we can do to get healthy, what we can do to improve individually, and as a football team. And that's all we can do. It's going to start with me and my ability to teach, my ability to get the guys in the right spots, and then also have a practice plan that I feel like gives us the best chance to be ready on Sunday.

How do you explain the defense's job?
MIKE VRABEL: I mean, we played a good football team. Just like Seattle ran the ball. And if you don't get off the field on third down, it just creates more chances, and I'm sure we got tired and missed a ton of tackles, and they pushed piles, and that's what happens. They block ya.

QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, September 27, 2026

Can you sum up a little bit how you feel right now, obviously, after a very tough day?
DRAKE MAYE: I think it's disappointing. You know, I think the ball starts rolling like that, we can't get out of our own way, can't get out of my own way personally. So I gotta look myself in the mirror and take this as a turning point. It's Week 3, and at the same time we gotta get some fuel and realize that what we're doing out there offensively is unacceptable. It's been unacceptable for three weeks. So I gotta start with myself and then lead these guys, and we gotta get back after it.

Can you walk us through the turnovers?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah, the first one, Jared [Wilson] happened to be bleeding on his hand, and got the football and (I) was trying to put one to Kyle [Williams]. Slipped out of my hand. Second one down there is just forcing it, trying to give Chis [Efton Chism III] a chance to score and get some momentum going into halftime. And then had a one-on-one match up backside and shouldn't — probably shouldn't have thrown it.

The first one you said there was blood on the football.
DRAKE MAYE: Yes.

That caused it to slip?
DRAKE MAYE: I mean, you can say that, but at the same time, I gotta hold on to the football.

Do you feel like you're not being yourself in the sense of just playing or are you thinking too much, maybe sometimes as to whether or not to throw and hesitant things? What's kind of going through your mind as you make these mistakes?
DRAKE MAYE: I wouldn't say hesitant. I think back there seeing and we just gotta make plays. I gotta make throws. We gotta get the right looks. We got penalties and turnovers, and like I said, it's more beating ourselves. And credit to them. They played way better than we did, speaking defensively compared to us on offense today. And that wasn't a replication of how we play football in New England.

You said this is a turning point, or you said it needs to be? How do you challenge yourself?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah. It's a similar scenario at 1-2 last year and we kind of went on a roll, and we got a chance early in the season to put our heads down and work and know that this is an opportunity to band together and realize that the best football that we play is together and realizing that that starts with me with protecting the football and protecting this team, because that's my job, and I've been failing to do that.

Do you feel like you're seeing it well from back there or do you feel like you're hesitating?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah. I didn't think I was hesitating much. I thought we hit some plays, and there's definitely some plays we wish we had back. That's every week. No, I wouldn't say I was hesitant or tucking it early or kind of scrambling out of the pocket early. I felt like the guys up front are battling hard, and we gotta do some things for myself to move the chains.

Physically, the right shoulder just going back to the Super Bowl. Do you feel like that had a lingering effect this season?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah. I like to say when you have that much time off and you get to focus on getting back, that you're going out there healthy. And you know you're going to get banged up every now and then, but at the same time a lot of guys are banged up. So looking forward to getting back to playing winning football. That's the main thing. And knowing that I play a big role in that and taking the bull by its horns.

Does your shoulder feel as good now as it did before that injury?
DRAKE MAYE: Yeah. I wouldn't say there's a problem with my shoulder. I think there's times where I think you look back and you look back on the playoff run and that Denver game and when I took the hit to now. I felt good during training camp and continue to let it loose.

What is the biggest differences right now compared to last season?
DRAKE MAYE: I think speaking for offense, I think it's getting out of my own way as well, personally. I think it's nothing that I feel like these mistakes that I'm making personally are really them beating us. I think it's beating myself and realizing that there's times last year where you gotta flip to the next play and realize that this league will humble you quick and just finding ways for me to step up when I feel like I'm not playing my best and still lead the
team. I think that's what this position is about, and that's what as the quarterback of this football team, that it's my obligation and owning that. And for me it starts with confidence in the guys, and it's all of us, and it's particularly with me – my 1/11th is a big part of it.

Confidence is such a big part of being a professional athlete. Where is your confidence level right now in your own game?
DRAKE MAYE: You'd like to say it's high, but at the same time I'm always going to be confident in myself to make plays. I've been confident, and there's one thing I'm going to go out there and compete. I'm going to leave it all out there, and I know that. And competing comes with being confident, being confident in this league and realizing these mistakes, you gotta bounce back, and at the same time, you gotta eliminate them. The more that we get out of our own way, the more the confidence in myself and this team will build. So that's something that starts in practice and it starts with me, and it starts with us getting to work this week and we got a big one this week.

ADDITIONAL PATRIOTS PLAYERS

Transcripts to follow.