Drake Maye 10/28: "It's any given week, everybody's got good players"

Drake Maye (0:00)

All right, you got two seconds. They're not allowed.

SPEAKER_2 (0:08)

What's up, Ken?

Drake Maye (0:15)

Yeah, first off, I think they're really buying to kind of coaching, the new coaching regime. And I know they're playing good football, you know, to be honest. I think, you know, especially defensively, they do a lot of different things, variety-wise. They got young guys, they got a mix of some veterans. We got some guys that we've seen in the past that are good players. 92 up front, 44 on the edge, chop. I know they're creating some havoc. And they got some young rookies kind of in the middle. And obviously, you know, Brooks has been a great player in this league, has led the league in tackles. So they got some good pieces, and they're playing together, and they've also played a tough schedule against some tough offenses. So I think we got a tough challenge. And we're going down there on the road on a place that we've played, but battling the heat. So I know we got to be on our, you know, put our best foot forward and get back to it.

SPEAKER_3 (1:01)

What have you learned from those two times that you've been down there? How to best manage combat that heat that you've been suffering?

Drake Maye (1:10)

Yeah, put it down there in college, too. Same type deal. They put us in the sun side as they should, you know, try to get the shade. So just knowing that you got to hydrate, you know, throughout the week.

Be careful with your body. Try to, you know, start it now and not try to wait till, you know, the night before during game day. And then from there, just knowing that you got to feel something a little bit extra. You know, it's not, you know, super, you know, late in the season where we've been battling the cold for a while up here. So not a huge change in temperature, but still, you know, it's definitely a factor with the humidity and, you know, grew up in the south. So you look a little more used to it. But still, I'm a New England guy now. But knowing that you got to battle that and trust the guys that run a lot more, me running after a scramble, kind of doing the play call, little things that, you know, kind of catch you off guard. You just got to be thinking ahead and knowing you may battle that.

SPEAKER_4 (1:52)

Craig, how do you make sure these guys don't read too much into the record in this situation?

Drake Maye (1:57)

Yeah, like I just said, they play a tough schedule. They play a lot of people close as well.

Play some tough offenses, some good teams. So I know that it's the NFL, you know, every week. It's nothing that you can come in here and act like the record means something. I think Coach was very well just mentioned to us that this morning in the team meeting, that's not the NFL. You know, it's any given week and everybody's got good players that can play. And it's, you know, especially when you're on the road, you got to bring your best ball.

SPEAKER_2 (2:23)

When it comes to the scramble drills, what do you kind of communicate with the receivers when you get on the move and stuff like that? How do you get open and how to help these guys?

Drake Maye (2:34)

I think it's an ongoing process with learning kind of the guy that's in this scramble drill. I think one of the biggest things is if you want a deep element and kind of intermediate element and kind of an outlet that you can kind of throw to and also me running is another chance. But the best thing I liked about our guys lately, they get their eyes back to me. I think that's the biggest thing, make sure they're looking for the ball, trying to see space and not trying to run to the same kind of area. I think usually when you're trying to go one way, you try to settle or work to the sideline. I think often times you get in trouble when you're trying to work back across the field kind of away from where I'm going. So the guys got a great feel for it. You always tell them try to come back to the football and keep coming back to it. Even if you're running downhill, you end up with a three yard catch is better than throwing it away. So I think those guys got a good feel for it and I'm trying my best to try to hang in there and keep my eyes downfield with a good pocket and make plays when I feel like I can.