QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
January 7, 2026
Q: This being your first playoff go around coming up, how do you keep from getting over-amped or over-hyped at the start of the game?
DM: Yeah, I think what Coach [Mike Vrabel] was preaching is just don't change our process, our preparation, throughout the week, what we've been doing. I think the natural thing is to get a little more amped. I guess that's just natural, as a human, for a big game. Just trust what you've been doing. I told these guys at the end of the season, before the playoffs came, to put some extra work in, to stay after practice. Some guys have been running extra routes and little things like that that can go a long way, but don't do anything out of the ordinary. That's the biggest thing. Trust what you've been doing. Trust the preparation you've been doing all season. Trust your coaches and your teammates around you, and just go out there and have fun. It's playoff football, so you've got to bring your best, and everybody knows that. That's the expectation. Just trying to live up to that and just trying to be myself.
Q: You told us last year that you played with, or when you used to play Madden as a teenager, you used to play with Derwin James. What appealed to you about him then and maybe what stands out about him now?
DM: He's relentless. He's a great football player. I played him last year and got to know him a little bit at the Pro Bowl. He's a great dude. He flies around. He's got good instincts. He's punching at the ball. He's good in the run game. He's good in the pass game. He plays some man coverage on third down. He's always around the football. He's got a knack for the football, and he's had that probably since he started playing. He's a great player. A lot of respect for him, and we've got to find out on every play where he's at. They have some really good players. They're physical as a team, and they have some good guys on the edge. They're smart, and they've played together for a little bit, so they've got a good squad.
Q: Drake, I know that there's a big difference between college and professional, obviously, but you experienced the 2022 ACC Championship game. How can that feeling that you experienced that game – big-pressure game, obviously – through the college career, translate to what you're getting ready for here in the NFL playoffs, if there is any correlation?
DM: Yeah, I think maybe a little bit, getting back to trying to play for championships. I think there's always something on the line when you've got to try to play at your best, and just replicating that. It's a little bit different in the NFL with the type of ball game and just the mentality of win or go home or win and advance. That's the biggest thing that's different. In the ACC Championship, you go to a bowl game, but here, it's now, or you're going home. So, that's the mindset, and that's what you try to not let – Coach [Vrabel] says take no naps, not let plays throughout the game that can affect the game. Realize that, 'Hey, I've got to do everything I can to realize I'm in this position, and try to do everything I can on each drive, try not to waste drives, waste plays, and waste our opportunity that we have.'
Q: How comfortable are you with being nit-picky with your receivers, and how do you feel like you've grown in that area?
DM: Yeah, I think being harder on them comes with learning them and them respecting our relationship together. I think that's the biggest thing that I've learned is get to know them and have some success with them, have some failure with them, and learn, 'Hey, what are you like here? Hey, how did you feel like I threw this ball to you?' These guys have responded to me great all year. They want the ball, obviously. Every receiver does, but they take criticism well, and they don't take it personally. They just want to help the team. They're blocking downfield. They're doing all the little things. As I get older, I'll probably start getting more mad when they don't line up correctly, but I think I try to know what kind of position they're in, especially if they're young, and we've got a young group for the most part. But the older guys like Stef [Diggs], they like when I get fired up a little bit.
Q: Your match up against Justin Herbert. Do you look at it that way, as a quarterback, that he's on the other side? Obviously, fans look at it that way, but do you match up against him, or are you largely focused on the defense?
DM: I think you play the defense. You play who you're out there on the field against. I think the quarterback matchup is one of the things that's natural for people to do, but I'm playing against 11 guys on defense. Unless he rolls out there on defense, I don't expect him to do that. I'm focusing on the defense, and we've got a tough job.
Q: When you describe sort of your leadership style there, where you're focused more on getting to know guys, and you're not maybe ripping them or chewing them out if they do something wrong, where did you learn to treat that part of your job that way?
DM: I think I learned when I transferred schools in high school. I transferred schools after my first freshman year and became the starting quarterback at a school my sophomore year. I was just trying to learn the team, learn the guys, and trying to earn respect from the guys at a new school. I hadn't been around any of the players. I knew a little bit of them from playing in offseason 7-on-7, but just learning the guys and trying to respect them and them respect how I work and how I treat people. From there, just try to translate that to college of learning a new group and translating it everywhere I've gone since then. I think that's the biggest thing, and I think the guys respect it. I think you'll see more and more down the road as I get older of me getting on the guys and earning respect of, 'Man, I want to be in the right spot for Drake and line up right,' and it comes with me being successful on the field and me doing my part as well.
Q: Drake, four-deep zones are typically thought of as kind of a prevent-style defense. Do you see it the same way, and are there still ways you can be aggressive against those kinds of looks?
DM: Yeah, 100%. One of the things that they do best is have eyes on the quarterback. They force a lot of three-and-outs. I think they're one of the top five defenses in forcing three-and-outs. They keep people in front of you. They don't have a lot of X plays on them. They try to limit big plays, and I think that's one of the biggest things I see from them on tape. They're good on the edge. They're physical, and I think from an attacking standpoint, if there's any coverage, there's always void. So, I think we've seen about all of them you can see this year, and we've had success and had some plays that we wish we had back against them.
Q: Drake, that point about X plays, they have the best deep ball defense, statistically, in the whole league. How do you balance understanding that's a strength of theirs and operating underneath, while not entirely conceding a big part of your offense?
DM: Yeah, I think you just take chances when they're there. I think in one-on-one coverage, you've got to take chances. One-on-one, I like our guys. They're making plays on the football when they have one-on-one coverage, and I like putting ball placement and giving them a chance to go make a play. At the same time, just be patient. Don't get bored being efficient, executing underneath and letting things come to you. I think that's the biggest thing is starting off, staying on track on first and second down and knowing that when we're behind the sticks, they have the advantage.
Q: Have you heard the Drake Maye anthems this week?
DM: I have not. I think somebody told me about them, may have been Steph [Burnham], but I haven't heard that. Who knows? It's probably something. I don't know if it's good or bad.
Q: Drake, how would you best describe your feelings coming to this game? Are you confident? Are you anxious? Are you nervous? Are you excited? Are you all of it?
DM: Yeah, there's obviously a little bit of mixed emotions. I think the biggest thing is I'm excited, excited to get an opportunity to play home playoff games. That's what we starred at the beginning of the season of things we want to do here and goals we want to accomplish, and we've got our chance and opportunity right here. So, take advantage of playing in front of a crowd that's been great all year, a crowd that I expect to be loud, and a night game against an opponent that has had some playoff experience and has a great offense and a great defense. So, we've got our hands full, but I'm looking forward to playing in front of this crowd.
Q: Drake, playing as much jumbo as you guys have the last four weeks, what has that done for you as a passer, but also the offense as a whole?
DM: Yeah, it gives you a chance to get in some big people. Also, sometimes we've got three receivers in there and have a jumbo tight end, so just trying to mix it up, give them some different looks in the run game as their extra hat, a guy that's better at blocking than a guy that's sitting over there on the bench. So, it adds a sixth offensive lineman, and I just think that's one of the biggest things. Being able to throw the football off play action, drop back and some different things all starts with how you've got to run the football. I'm really proud of the guys, especially up front, for how they've handled that. I've had the best view in the house, and from my point of view, for some of these big runs, just blocked up beautifully, and it's fun to watch.
Q: Do you feel like you still have things to prove this season, or do you try not to look at things that way?
DM: Things to prove? No, I wouldn't say that. Just prove to my teammates, try to be the same player in the regular season as hopefully I am in the postseason. That starts with me playing well and knowing that every week, my job is huge. It's big. I've got to play well for us to win. I know that's the nature of this league and the nature of the position. I wouldn't want to have it any other way.
Q: I was just curious, with Rhamondre Stevenson, a lot of the focus last season and early this season was the fumbling issue, to now looking ahead to the production he's had, and now winning AFC Offensive Player of the Week. Just what have you seen from him in terms of coming in every day and working and just his mindset throughout all that?
DM: Yeah, his mindset really hasn't changed. I'm so proud of the way he's bounced back, had some things off the field that he's just kept on pushing. He's been a great teammate. He's always been a great teammate. He's a great football player. Coach [Josh McDaniels] shows some high school highlights in the film room sometimes, and watching him in high school, he's got the same little jump cut, and he's hard to tackle. He's got great contact balance. Like I said, after the game, he does it in all three phases. I mean, the amount of pickup blocks – he told me he needs a gift like the O-linemen, and he probably does. The way he's blocked this year, it's been one of the best in the league. It's comforting having 38 [Stevenson] back there. It's been awesome to see how him and TreVeyon [Henderson] have kind of molded their role in this football team. Those two backs are huge for our success and will continue to get better and better.
