HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, October 13, 2024

JM: Good afternoon, good evening. Look again, sit here before you guys just disappointed. The penalties in the first half, just too many. It's the same story over and over again. Had three or four turnovers in the game. Can't win if you lose that battle. Defensively I would say just the fundamentals of just tackling, our run fits have to improve. They have to improve. I told all those guys, I said, "you should feel like crap today. You should feel like crap." You take away those two long runs, we had two runs over 50 yards. That's just not winning football. Offensively, I thought they did some things that were encouraging. Obviously still not enough. The turnovers, one was on a tipped ball, but that's the way the league is. I thought Drake [Maye] made some good decisions out there. I thought he had some good reads. I thought he tried to get the ball out of his hands. I thought he did a good job extending plays with his legs, picking up first downs. Just got to be better.

Q: Jerod, on Drake Maye, is that kind of what you hoped you would see as far as some of the things that he was able to do, and how did you have that little bit of – okay, that 40-yard drop-in-the-bucket pass to Kayshon Boutte that got you guys back in the game to end the half?

JM: Yeah, and look, we fully anticipate or expect him to be better going forward. It was his first start. Obviously here at home there was a lot of expectations on him. I thought he handled it well. Got to build on it.

Q: How did you think Drake Maye ran the offense today and his poise in his first start?

JM: I thought he showed a lot of poise. I thought he went out there and controlled the huddle, got those guys out of the huddle and once again, made some plays. It's definitely encouraging. From a team-wide perspective right now, we let him down. It was his first game, and I feel like I let him down. I'm sure all the coaches feel like we let everyone down. We've just got to be better.

Q: Jerod, throughout the first few games you've emphasized the passing game as something that needs to improve. Today it felt like we saw the receivers getting a little more involved. What would you say to the passing game today specifically as it relates to Drake Maye?

JM: Yeah, I would say, first, there were some good pockets to start with up front. I thought the offensive line at times definitely had some good pockets to allow the quarterback to make those throws. But once again, it's a team-wide sport, and we don't feel very good about anything right now.

Q: Jerod, with the offensive line, the left side going down with Vederian Lowe and Michael Jordan, how tough is it right now to keep a cohesive unit together with how far down the depth chart you guys are at that spot?

JM: It's very tough. Every single week it's a different combination of players. It's tough for those guys to really build that camaraderie or that communication. But again, like the backup players, they have to prepare like they're starters every week. We'll see how we came out of this game, but it's definitely an issue for us.

Q: Jerod, you mentioned the penalties. From a coaching staff standpoint, what can you do on your end to get those numbers down?

JM: We talk about it all the time, and Saturday night meetings we talk about what crew is going to be out there, what do they call frequently, and we knew that this was a high penalty calling crew. I thought the second half kind of cleaned it up a little bit, but just way too many penalties in the game.

Q: Jerod, a couple questions ago you said that you along with the players and so on, the coaching staff, let Drake down. Could you be more specific what you meant by that?

JM: Yeah, not really the coaching staff. Look, we feel like crap right now, and I would say just for a rookie quarterback to go out there and do some good things, do some good things – I just felt like we could have did a better job supporting him.

Q: DeMario Douglas had 92 receiving yards, the most you guys have had in more than a year. He seemed to come off the field when you go to those two-receiver sets. Do you think he can function in those or there's a way to get him the ball more often?

JM: Yeah, absolutely. Pop [DeMario Douglas] is one of our best receivers. He can get open against anyone. Those are definitely things we've got to consider.

Q: How would you evaluate Drake's decision-making today in terms of reads, making sure that he avoided the rush, et cetera?

JM: His reads were good all day. I thought his reads were good. I'll watch the film, obviously, but I thought he did a good job.

Q: Jerod, you talked about the defense. The first two drives of the game where they came right down the field, score, right down the field, score, how disappointing was that from your perspective, and I think the 192 yards on the ground, and what do you do to get going in the right direction there?

JM: Yeah, it's very disappointing, and I would say now at this time we're kind of up and down as far as starting fast. We have to start fast whether we're on defense or offense, and we just didn't do that today. I thought they did settle down. But again, it goes back to every single play being important, and you can stop them, stop them, stop them, and then all of a sudden it's a 50-yard run. We can't live in that world.

Q: In terms of play calling for Drake, did you feel like on offense you guys did what you could to help him get settled in? Was it how you planned or scripted or did things evolve differently?

JM: Absolutely. We talked about the first 15 [plays] as we always do, and that was to get him settled in. Once again, he's a rookie making his first start. Will there be things that didn't go right for him? Yeah, absolutely, but I thought the way we planned that out was good.

Q: I don't know how many interactions you had with Drake during the game, but how did you see him react to some of the physical punishment he took throughout?

JM: Yeah, he took some big hits, and slow to get up after a couple of those, but he's a tough guy, and I was encouraged by that.

QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, October 13, 2024

Q: Drake, just kind of take us through your day from start to finish. You certainly had a lot going on, and how much did that first 40-yard touchdown kind of settle you down and get you going into your day?

DM: Yeah, yeah, I think we just hurt ourselves today. I think that's the biggest thing. I think we put the defense in bad spots, and with how good our defense is, that's the last thing we can do. We can't – when the ball is in the red zone, giving the other team the ball in the red zone just makes it hard on them. It starts with me, and I feel like I wish I could have some throws back, and especially the first interception. But yeah, after the touchdown, felt like kind of we were back in it. Coming out of halftime, there goes another turnover in the red zone. Just kept hurting ourselves, and in this league, these teams are too good to do that. But some great stuff to watch on film. Sometimes out there it was a lot of fun on offense. That's what I told the guys in the huddle at the end, we got the guys in the huddle, we've just got to make a few more plays and play complementary football. That's what Coach Mayo will just preach, play complementary football, and we didn't do that today.

Q: As the game went on, did you feel it kind of slow down for you in the pocket and making decisions?

DM: Yeah, you know, I was a little amped at the start for sure. I think the biggest thing is having those guys around me. They were great, pumping me up, coaches, defense. The guys around me were great trying to settle me down, and Jacoby [Brissett] was a big part of that, slowed me down on the sideline pregame. Once we got that first drive, it was three-and-out, and I could have probably checked it down on the under. But we've got some stuff to look back and learn from, but I also feel like we did some good things.

Q: You mentioned the interception, the first one. What sort of happened there? Take us through –

DM: Yeah. Pretty simple. Pop over the middle and hit him a few other times, and that last time where he scored I hit him in stride. Just got to make better throws. I missed a little high, and you can't miss high over the middle in this league. That's what they always say; you can't miss high over the middle, and tipped balls on the second one turned into interceptions.

Q: Jerod just called it an encouraging performance on offense. All of that came in the second half. What went better for you guys in the second half than the first half?

DM: Yeah, we preach fast starts, and I wouldn't say it's very pleasing when you start off with a turnover in the red zone to start the second half and start out with a three-and-out in the first drive. Little things like that that we're emphasizing on offense, and we just haven't been able to execute. I think the things that have come back are what we're emphasizing, and that starts with me. We need to execute. Kind of got going there a little bit, made some throws that the guys made some plays, and like I said, we got guys that can make plays, and the O-line is up there battling their butt off and getting injured, coming back and always checking on me. Those guys fought their butts off tonight.

Q: Even Jerod was saying when he was up here that you took some big hits. First full 60 minutes from you in the NFL as a quarterback. How are you feeling physically after the physicality of today's game?

DM: Yeah, I think Houston Texans are a good football team. They've got good defense. They've got some good guys on the edge and up front, good guys on the back end. It was a good test for us. Like I said, I think right there a couple times in the game it felt like we were crawling back, and really just offensively put the defense in a bad spot. I feel all right. I think you're playing quarterback in the NFL, you're going to be sore the next day. That's part of it. Probably can do a better job of getting down or throwing it away. I think I took a couple sacks today maybe where I could have thrown it away or thrown check-downs instead of getting a sack.

Q: You mentioned you were amped at the beginning before settling down. What was the sideline like when you were coming back? What were some of the conversations you were having, and how was Jacoby helping during that time, if at all?

DM: Yeah, he was saying, we're good, we're good. They went down there, they scored on the first possession, so it puts a little pressure on you. I think it's always a little pressure when they score first and make it 7-0. So just settled down and trusted the guys around me, and we've got to be able to run the football a little bit, too. I think we preach that. Running the football in this league is how you get open. Getting in third and long -- we were in third and long too much today, and that starts with me making better throws and decisions on first and second down.

Q: Wednesday you mentioned this was a dream for you to get your first NFL start. What was this like from that perspective, and also, how do you self-evaluate overall as to how today went compared to what you wanted to achieve?

DM: Yeah, shout-out to the fans. I thought they were great. It gave me goosebumps going out there for the first time. They stayed basically almost the whole way through cheering, and it was pretty sweet to be out there in the reds. Like I said, I think we didn't come out with the win, and that's kind of the goal, especially in your first start. Coming out with a win, that would be something pretty special. Got to be able to watch the tape and learn from it and bounce back. We've got a long flight, so get ready for playing overseas.

Q: Along those lines, there's no denying this is one of the biggest days in your life. That's a fact. It's also a fact that your team lost convincingly. What are those emotions like? You're going to be getting texts from friends, family who don't take the loss into account. What's going on right now in terms of the conflicting emotions?

DM: Yeah, I think first and foremost just blessed. I thank the good Lord. I'm in a great spot with the Patriots here and playing quarterback in the NFL. Most of my friends and family after a loss, they'll still worry more about the loss than kind of encouraging plays. That's kind of the people I'm around. We care about winning. Just hate losing. That's the big thing. I think there's some good things to take away from it today, and I think back with Coach Mayo, we've got to play complementary football, and we haven't done that.

Q: Can you describe your mindset during the two-minute drill before halftime? Looked like you were able to try to fit some passes into some tight windows there. Did that maybe help you settle in a little bit?

DM: Yeah, I think the two-minute time is a great time for a quarterback to kind of get some passes and get some plays that we're comfortable with under my belt. It was a lot easier in two-minute than in practice when the guys actually come back there and tackle me in the back. Able to make some plays. Boutte made a great play, and those guys – I think Pop down the sideline, that's a great play on his part, and just get the guys the ball, and that's the biggest thing I've got to do. I think get them the ball and let them make plays. You saw Hunter on a flat route early on. We're backed up, make a guy miss, get a 1st down, little things like that, try to get the ball out of my hands and get it to those guys. I make a lot of money getting paid to get 1st downs.

Q: Could you just walk us through your 40-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Lynn Polk and doing it in a game as opposed to a practice? How much did that help your confidence today?

DM: You mean to Boutte?

Q: Yeah, to Boutte.

DM: You're good. I think pressed up. I think we've got to give gas, give him a chance. That was kind of my thought process; give him a chance. I thought kind of the Texans was kind of squatting us a little bit. They came out and challenged us and played in man so tried to let one ride and give Boutte a chance. He made a nice play, and it was pretty cool. I think both of our first touchdowns, so pretty cool moment. I felt like in this group we can push the ball down the field and make plays in the passing game, so we've just got to keep repping it and see what you like and I've got to make the throws, that's the bottom line. Make better throws.

Hunter Henry, TE

(On what he saw from Drake Maye)

"I commend his toughness, first and foremost. His competitiveness was great. It was fun to get some things going, moving in a positive direction. I felt like the two-minute before the half was a great moment for us, too, as an offense. We've just got to be better with the football, we've got to be better – we weren't able to establish the run like we wanted to today, and we've just got to be better in a lot of areas. It starts with myself. I need to be better and be better for this football team."

(On what the emotions were seeing Maye buy time to allow him to get in open space to make a play)

"He's super athletic. He's very mobile, so you've got to be ready at all times, any route to be able to kind of convert into a scramble drill kind of mode. In that moment, he was able to just kind of find me and make a play. He's a playmaker; he's a great player, and he's only going to continue to get better."

(On if he thinks the game slowed down for Maye at all)

"Each rep, each play, I mean, it feels like a long time ago to remember back to my rookie year. But every rep and every game that he puts behind him, he's only going to continue to get better, feel more comfortable. So, I feel like he did a lot of good things. I know there's things he probably wants to do better. I mean, that's kind of how it is for all of us. We've all got to continue to get better."

(On why he felt the run game was a struggle)

"It's kind of hard for me to say right now without watching the film, to be honest with you. Once I'm able to watch the film tomorrow and be able to see it a little bit more – I mean, honestly, when I'm in the play, it's hard to know exactly what's going on. I'm just kind of focused on my job and what I've got to do. But also, I think the nature of the game, too, getting behind early really fast, it kind of puts you – obviously, it was early, but we needed to kind of move the ball down the field a little bit more. I think we can be better in the run game, but I'll learn a lot once we watch the film."

(On why he wanted to commend Maye on his toughness)

"Well, I mean, it's a big moment, first and foremost. Your first game, your first start. He got hit a few times early, he threw an interception early and just continued to come back, continued to fight, continued to get back up and continued to play at a high level, too. As a young player, to be able to bounce back like that, I think it's more even the mentally tough than maybe some of the physically tough. I know how hard it can be. You have something not go your way early in the game, but to continue to fight, get back up and keep going, I commend him on that."

Christian Gonzalez, CB

(On his thoughts on the defense's performance today)

"Yeah, for sure. I mean, we always preach we want to start fast. We obviously didn't. Like you said, they came down, marched two drives. But once we got to the sideline, it was like, 'Alright, settle down. We've got a plan. Let's stick to the plan.' I mean, I think we settled down for a little bit, and they came out and executed their game plan."

(On how he would evaluate his performance)

"I mean, I didn't feel like I played too well. But it's not about me. We've got to win as a team, so that's that on that."

(On his perspective on Stefon Diggs' touchdown and the deep ball where he squeezed him to the sideline)

"Yeah. He's a great receiver. He's been doing this for a long time. On the touchdown, he ran a good route. That's the life of a corner. You're going to get beat. So, I mean, props to him. He came out and ran a great route, and C.J. [Stroud] put it on him. The other play was just trusting my technique and going out there and doing that."

DeMario Douglas, WR

(On his touchdown catch and walking through the play itself)

"The other day I was saying that I was going to get my first touchdown catch so it was spoken into existence and manifested it. I read the defense and saw man. I caught the ball and [said to myself], 'don't fall this time…don't fall this time,' and got into the end zone."

(On Drake Maye's performance and how encouraged he is about the offense)

"He played good. I love how he gained confidence throughout the game and I thought it was a good first game for him. He's [a good player] and I like the confidence that he had going into his first game. They are a good team and he held his own. We have a young offense, and we are making progress. Our first game together as a young offense and I felt like we should be moving forward after this game."

(On how Drake Maye was on the sideline after the interceptions)

"Like I said, he has that confidence and never was down. When you have a [quarterback] that is never down, it gives us confidence. He came into the huddle saying, 'come on, let's go' and pushed us to be like 'we got your back.'"

(On feeling optimistic after a tough loss)

"I don't like losing, but in the little spurt that I've seen, I feel like we are moving in the right direction. I walked out of the training room, looked at the clock, and saw 4:44. I know some of y'all might not believe in it but, 444 is an angel number. 444 is when you are going in the right direction, and I believe that we are going in the right direction. I know we took a loss but there are things we can learn from."

(On the extra reps him and Drake take every day after practice)

"It helps a lot. [We take extra reps] everyday after practice and don't miss a day. Drake and the receivers get together after every practice and throw and catch the ball. We do the little things that when it comes down to it in the game, everything clicks."

Kayshon Boutte, WR

(On the touchdown from Drake Maye)

"Going into the second quarter, we didn't have momentum from the first quarter. A couple of three-and-outs, back-to-back-to-back. Defenses start sitting on routes when we weren't throwing it deep. I went to Coach and I was like, 'we need to take a shot, I want the ball.' That was the opportunity, and it presented itself. Drake threw a great ball. Great pass from him."

(On the chemistry built with Drake Maye since training camp)

"When Drake first came in – I was once a rookie – it's all about getting comfortable, finding your confidence and your rhythm. From the time he got in, going in and out every day, just letting him know it'll be alright, that we all can improve to get better."

(On maintaining personal confidence)

"Like I said, the more you play, the more confident you become. We practice Monday through Thursday, with a walkthrough on Friday and Saturday. Trusting your preparation, and there's never really a doubt in my mind that I can't make a play. I really catch every ball that's thrown to me, so it's like, 'just catch them.'"

Kendrick Bourne, WR

(On Drake Maye's performance)

"I think he did phenomenal. I pointed out that him getting hit, he kept playing, he didn't seem too rattled. He didn't just start doing different things, he stuck to what he does, what he practices. I think he understands that he's going to get hit and I think that is huge. Obviously, we're struggling on the line as everybody knows, in a sense, but he's doing a good job playing hard."

(On the veterans' presence with Maye after a tough play)

"Yeah, just supporting him. It's huge for his confidence. We just talked about the two-minute drive, big plays, good plays are going to help our confidence. So, just when we have bad plays, having that positive energy too, you know. Just supporting everybody, it's just about being there for each other and having each other's backs."

(On the passing game)

"I think AVP [Alex Van Pelt] did a great job. His game plan. Pop [Demario Douglas] had a great day, Boutte had a great day. Just scheming, kind of anticipating what they're going to do. Pop was kind of that tough spot for them on the defense, he ran some really good routes. I think we schemed well, and Drake threw the ball really good."

(On what Maye brings to the offense)

"The way he was running the ball was impressive. I think his athleticism, his ability to throw on the run and things like that. It's how he runs with his body, like he's running left, but facing forward to throw the ball. I think those traits are what you see around the league. Patrick Mahomes, these new age quarterbacks, throwing the ball on the run, extending plays."

(On Maye's leadership)

"Yeah, he's like a natural leader, he has aura. That's important in football. Some people have aura, some people don't, so he's kind of one of those. He doesn't have to try, he's that guy. It's important, you can tell when you see him. He passed the eye test, so when he's in the huddle, he knows what he's doing. You can feel it, it's important."

Marcus Jones, CB

(On what went wrong defensively on the first two drives)

"The main thing that we had going on was not playing our football. We had guys doing different things. One thing that we do, pride ourselves on, is accountability. The next man will tell you, 'hey, you need to do this.' There are no egos when it comes down to it. We love the way that we critique each other. We try to do that on a down-to-down basis. After that, it started going the way we wanted it to go on the defensive side. We just can't put ourselves in a hole."

(On his interception)

"Yeah, first off, it was a great play by Te [Marte Mapu]. He ended up putting his hands where they needed to be. I ended up catching the ball, and I was trying to go all the way. I saw some of the guys that were blocking, DG [Davon Godchaux], and all those guys out there. I was trying to find a crease, but came up short."

(On what can be learned from today)

"Even though the game didn't go how we wanted it to go, there were some great things that happened that we can do on a consistent basis. In the National Football League, the margin for error is very slim. The thing is that we have to make sure we go back, everything that we didn't have handled, we have to practice it, and make sure we get it right for next week."

Jonathan Jones, CB

(On Drake Maye's first start at quarterback)

"I think we didn't put him in a good position, you know, as a defense, spotting them 14 points. So, it's kind of hard to fight back from that. So, from that standpoint, you know, it's hard."

(On finding their footing on defense after the first two drives)

"Just to get back to what we do, you know, stopping the run, getting off the field on third down, that was key and it was what we didn't do on the first two drives. So, we were able to kind of settle down and do what we do."

(On showing discipline during sudden possession changes)

"I mean, we practice that. Our job is wherever we get the ball and wherever their offense gets the ball, it's our job to stop them, whether it's the one-yard line, you know, to be cliché, or in the red zone already. If we give up three points, that's a win for us, but not giving up touchdowns."

Antonio Gibson, RB

(On Drake Maye's debut)

"Excited for him. You know, he came out here, he competed. Not what we wanted, but he did his thing. He showed heart. He took the steps he needed to do to prepare for today. We just have to keep building off of that."

(On Drake Maye gaining confidence throughout the game)

"I feel like it was a slow start, but you know, he got going. That was a great pass by him, and I feel like he got more comfortable. Unfortunate things happened and they weren't going our way, but it is something to build off of. He came out here, and like I said, he competed his ass off, especially with the runs he had, extending the drives for us. We're proud of him."