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Kenyan Drake – September 11, 2019 Download PDF version

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

RB Kenyan Drake

(I know it’s less important than the focus on this week, but I am curious where’s the football from last year?) – “What do you mean?”

(The Miami Miracle football?) – “I think it should be at the stadium. That’s where (Vice Chairman, President & CEO Tom) Garfinkel told me it was. I haven’t personally seen it, but I feel like that’s pretty cool. I want everybody to share in the moment.”

(How many times do you think you’ve watched the play since it happened? Did you watch it at all in the offseason?) – “I don’t personally go and look for it, but whenever it comes up, I find myself just looking through the duration of the play and seeing all of the details. But it’s in the past, honestly. We’ve got to focus on the 2019 Patriots. That’s where my head is at.”

(How do you get ready for a game Sunday and preparation after the loss to Baltimore, going against the Super Bowl champs?) – “It wasn’t anybody’s probably first loss. We have the next game to focus on, so that’s how you focus on the next game. You have a game that you have to prepare for, so you don’t think about the past. You learn from the mistakes, get better at the things that you did well and put your head where it needs to be, which is on this next team.”

(LB Dont’a Hightower and LB Jamie Collins, what are some challenges that those two guys present for you on that defense?) – “They’re veteran guys, very physical, very cerebral. They seem to almost know the play before it is out there, because they study the game very well and are very in-tune with the formations and the motions that the offense may try to trick the defense with. It’s going to be very difficult for us to go out there and do our job to our standard, but we know we have to go out there and do it, because at the end of the day, they’re a great team and we’re going to do everything we can to focus, making sure we’re in our right position, so that when they do try to make a play, we make the most of it.”

(One of the things Head Coach Brian Flores was talking about today is the importance of identifying potential blitzers. I know that generally the focus is on the line for that, but I remember one play in particular you picked up a late blitzer and I think QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to make a play maybe to TE Mike Gesicki. Can you take me inside that a little bit and understand how you and your teammates best identify who might be hot?) – “It starts with the communication. Specific plays, depending on who the Mike point is, I have a player corresponding to that. With the game being played at a high level, you have to react in a quick manner. Knowing where my eyes should be at all times puts me in the right positon to make plays. Even if it might not be the person who I need to block, I have a good understanding of, ‘Alright, well, if this person is coming hot, I feel like they may have a chance to hit the quarterback, I can move from my responsibilities and do that.’ But you can’t do that too often, because you have to – our old special teams coach used to say, ‘You have to know your 1/11th.’ So as long as you’re doing what you need to do and every 1/11th person does their job, the job should be successful.”

(I know that given a contract extension to the three guys who were going to be free agents with G/T Jesse Davis, with WR Jakeem Grant and obviously with CB Xavien Howard. Is that something that you would like or would you just like to wait it out and enter free agency next year?) – “My focus right now is on the Patriots. The things that I do right now are going to put me in the best potion to get the things that I want at the end of the day. Focusing on something that I can’t control other than going out there, doing my job, coming to work every day, making sure I’m prepared on the field and off the field is going to set me up for whatever things I want to accomplish after that. But I can’t count my chickens before they hatch.”

(Have the brought it up to you or to your agent in terms of doing an extension?) – “At the end of the day, that’s not my job. My job is to come here every day and focus on what I can control. That’s not any of – It’s my business; but my business right now is being where my feet are, making sure that I’m getting the most of it every day that I’m here.”

(Did you and LB Dont’a Hightower play together at Alabama or was he before you?) – “No, he was a couple years older than me.”

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