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‘It took everybody.’ Here’s what Drake Maye had to say after the Patriots’ victory on Sunday.
"It’s proof of why you work so hard, why you have extra meetings, why you get treatment on time, why you do the little things. You have proof now of how it can turn out and come up in the win column.”
Quarterback Drake Maye had 230 yards and two touchdowns on 19-of-23 passing in the Patriots’ 33-27 victory over the Dolphins on Sunday in Miami.
Here’s what the second-year quarterback said after the game.
On the win: “That feels good. That feels good. It took everybody. Special teams, offense, defense, trainers, everybody who helps us out. It felt good. Proud of our guys for sticking with it. So many ebbs and flows of the game, and just proud of the guys. That one feels good.”
On his performance: “Shoot, I’m proud of this team and these guys around me. My job is to try to get them the football and lead scoring drives, and the defense played their butts off. Proud of the guys around me and great team win.”
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On Antonio Gibson’s kickoff return touchdown: “I was right there. I was right there watching him. I saw him cut it around the edge, and the kicker didn’t know where he was at. He just kept turning, and I knew he wouldn’t catch him then. What a play. They made a play on special teams, and then we make a play. That’s just this league. It’s close games, and you’ve got to come out on top in one-score games. That was awesome.”
On what he was thinking about between the punt-return touchdown and kickoff return touchdown: “We were on the sideline getting juiced up and ready to go. We knew we had a drive to go and score. They kept kicking it to [Gibson], and I knew if they kept kicking it to him he was going to take one back eventually. It was cool to watch.”
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On the 55-yard pass to Rhamondre Stevenson: “Just trusting him. We throw those kind of routes all the time in practice. We work on them. I throw them to him after practice, work on him catching over the shoulder. I thought I overthrew him at first, and he made a great play. I thought all three backs made a big impact today, and guys up front blocked hard.”
On the running game: “Just trying to keep the defense honest. They played a lot of zone, matching routes, so just trying to keep them honest. And like I said those guys up front did a great job of making lanes and cutting down rush lanes. Just trying to do what I can.”
On coming off a loss and enduring a number of lead changes: “We were preaching all week to start fast. And we did that. We knew they could respond, and they responded well. So we’ve got to come back out of the half better. We had a three and out; we’ve got to keep drives going in the second half and get the first first down, because once we do that we’re tough to stop. So that’s our mindset, and just enjoying this win.”
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On looking more comfortable on the field: “I try to approach it like that every week. I try to stay cool and calm in the huddle, and those guys respond to me. Trying to fire them up, so I feel like that’s my mindset every week, and it’s my job to get these guys going.”
On being more efficient passing and in the red zone: “You get what you emphasize, and these guys they really held true to that. We wanted to score touchdowns in the red zone, and I think we came up short one time, but really other than that I thought we did good down there. We got those positive plays, and I still think we can do better. Just keep on stacking those, and good things will happen.”
On the atmosphere with Vrabel as coach: “It’s awesome. Rallying around Coach, how much he cares about us, how much of a players’ coach he is. … It took everybody, but he’s leading the charge. So that [win] meant something special.”
On the difficulty of winning in Miami: “I think we were just trying to get in the win column. All the stuff about the past, and all the records saying we didn’t win down here since [2019], we’re just trying to come out here and do our part and worry about this week and this season.”
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On his approach to the first quarter: “Staying cool and calm. I was feeling good in warmups, down here in this humidity is what I grew up throwing in in North Carolina. The ball feels good, and I was spinning it well. I think from there, just trying to get the guys quick completions. Get the guys up front used to the flow of the game.”
On what the win means to the team: “It’s proof of what the work you put in can result in. It’s proof of why you work so hard, why you have extra meetings, why you get treatment on time, why you do the little things. You have proof now of how it can turn out and come up in the win column.”
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