PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
August 13, 2025
Q: I know you spent a lot of time up there, but how grueling was that out there with those Special Olympians for you?
DM: Oh, it was awesome. Just to see the fun they're having out there, the fun it brings me, and just them playing, them playing football. It's just a game we all started playing when we were young and fell in love with at that age. I remember playing flag bag in the day, and to see them out there running routes, throwing footballs, scoring touchdowns, just having fun and being into it. That's the biggest thing. You see them communicate, having a wristband, caring about it and loving it. That's the coolest part for me.
Q: What did you think of the officiating?
DM: Yeah, the officiating. Vrabes [Mike Vrabel] was out there officiating; I thought he did a good job. He was trying to help Team Mass [Massachusetts] out, which was cool. No, but I think the rules, you try to keep it within the rules; it's really just about them having fun. They all want to win; that's the biggest thing I saw. They all want to win still.
Q: How was today for you out there?
DM: I think it was good for us. It was good for us to see a defense that does a lot of things. They got us a few times; I felt like we got them. So, it's good for us to see that and experience a new defense that's very different from Washington and very different from our defense.
Q: What did you see on the touchdown to TreVeyon [Henderson]?
DM: They didn't account for him, and I just tried to give him an easy ball to let him catch and run, and I think it's hard to catch him when he's in the open field.
Q: Mack Hollins told us that he punted the ball because he wanted to shift the energy in practice. Could you sense the same thing as him, and did you feel it had the intended impact?
DM: I think it's one of those things where there's fans in here, and it's an environment that you expect to be really hostile. I think we've just got to bring our own energy. That's how away games are; you've got to bring your own energy. I think the guys responded well at times, but I think we, as a team, can do a better job bringing energy, having some energy when our guys make a play and when we don't, responding to that.
Q: With Josh McCown out here, I was curious what it was like to go from Myers Park to the NFL?
DM: Yeah, it's pretty cool. With Josh, it's been a lot of hours doing quarterback drills and throwing the football with him. I played with both of his sons in high school. They were my teammates. So, I still stay in touch with them. They're great dudes. It's kind of a full-circle scene to come out here, and him coaching in the NFL is pretty cool.
Q: I saw you hit TreVeyon Henderson on a vertical. I think you hit him in 7-on-7s as well. How much of a mismatch does he provide against guys like linebackers and safeties with his speed?
DM: Sometimes, they leave the backs 1-on-1. Sometimes, that's your best match up on the field. You've got safeties over top of receivers. You've got, sometimes, a lot of guys in the middle of the field in zones, sometimes 1-on-1 with your running backs. It's a great having – I really feel like all three of them, Mondre [Rhamondre Stevenson], Gibby [Antonio Gibson] and TreVeyon can make plays out of the backfield. It keeps the defense honest, makes it hard for them.
Q: There's so much made of this Brian Flores defense, the scheme and the pressure that he brings to opposing offenses. How did you feel like you guys, as a unit, handled that today?
DM: I think the guys, at times, up there in front, I think I can help them out and be more demonstrative about where I want to send them and where I want them to go. Really, I think we blocked it up when we got it right. I think there's times where they're going to get us. That's what he does. He tries to create chaos, and I think that's good for us to see and know. Sometimes at the line, you may not know, 'Hey, is this guy coming, or .they're just bluffing that?' So, it's good for us to see it, and I think it's great for us to learn from.
Q: Drake, how much did you consult with Garrett Bradbury just to pick his brain on what he was going to see from this defense?
DM: Yeah, I consulted with him a lot. Obviously, he lived it throughout practice, and he knows a lot of the guys personally. I think for him, it's a different system than what he was doing here in Minnesota, so it's a little different for him. But the rules in the offense, just follow that. I think the MIKE – once he tried to move some guys around, one playing safety, then he goes to the linebacker, then he's on the edge. So, they do a good job of mixing it up. I think we were on the same page. I was quick in and out of the huddle. I thought we had a good play.
Q: How much does the combination of practice, but also being here for the joint practices and the preseason game, help you evolve with the Josh McDaniels offense and get you where you need to be?
DM: It's great for me to get new looks. I was bummed out with how the two-minute ended in Washington, and I think we had a good first two-minute. It was a touchdown; we needed a field goal to tie, so that's always good. Coming back out of the second two-minute, I think we had a good first play, and then took a sack and just can't do that. Things like that you learn, and you know that if the look is not there, I think in two-minute, just to find answers and learn from that. I feel like we protect the ball. I feel like I didn't really put it in harm's way. It's good for us to see new defenders, guys that are going to be grabbing, holding and maybe have a different skill set than our guys, so it's pretty cool to be out here and get a new look.
Q: How has Will Campbell been acclimating? Obviously, he had some fun moments in the preseason games. What do you continue to see from him?
DM: Yeah, he's a beast. You see a different energy out there in joint practices and games. I think I just challenge him to bring it every day. When we're facing our defense, there's no days off in this league. You win a game, you lose a game, you're right back in practice on Monday or practice on Wednesday. You're back at it with a new team and a new edge rusher that's just as good as the one in the past. I think that's what I learned last year. It's a new week, roll it over. Play a good game. You've got to come back and do it again. If you don't have a good game, you get a chance to answer the next week. I think him and Jared (Wilson), especially up front, are learning. It's going to be bad plays throughout practice, so just bounce back from it.
Q: Only a few weeks off before the regular season starts. What do you hope to really work on in the next three, four weeks here?
DM: Yeah, I think just continuing to build on what we've got. Build on the relationships with the guys. I think just creating a unity within the offense and unity within the team to fight for each other. It's a great opportunity out here in the joint practice to play against somebody else and come together as a team instead of being offense versus defense. Really just that and just me getting used to game planning and how coach likes to do it on offense and just kind of studying the plan and how we're going to execute it when we get to week one.
Q: It seems like Mike is trying to draw more out of you as a leader. He had some comments about it this morning. He said it's not that you're lacking in that area, but he wants more, like he wants more from everybody in that area. Does it get annoying when he's on you about that sort of stuff, or do you like being pushed in that way? Has that stood out to you as something that he's focused on?
DM: No, I think I want that. I want somebody to push me to do more for the team, have more of an impact with the guys around me. I feel like if I have that and if I feel like I'm not showing it myself then I need somebody to push me along. I think us guys on offense, the big veterans, in Mike Onwenu and Morgan [Moses] and Hunter [Henry] and Mondre [Rhamondre Stevenson] and those guys and Stef Diggs are going to challenge ourselves to – and Garrett Bradbury in there – push ourselves to lead. I think it starts with me building those guys, and then from there I think guys can kind of bounce off and I really tell those guys to push me. Once I feel like they're pushing me, I feel like I can give back.
Q: You want to be a captain? Is that bad?
DM: I think it's a great honor. I think it's something that you don't take lightly around here, especially with those Patriot teams in the past, with the captains they had. It's an aspiration to be a captain, but there's a lot of guys on this team that deserve that, and they've played a long time in this league.
Q: Coach has mentioned that second-and-long situations were big emphasis today. I'm curious, how is that valuable for you as the quarterback and also how do you feel you extended in this one?
DM: Yeah, just finding a manageable third down, that's huge. There's been times we got an incomplete pass on the first down or maybe a run that didn't go as well. And there's times where you've got to be back in the second-and-10 and get half or try to get half or try to make a manageable third down. That's huge for this league.
