Patriots - 28, Texans - 16
Q. A thought on getting the job done, basically? How much of a battle was it for you against their defense, and then to watch your defense do what it did?
DM: We knew it was going to be a battle. We knew this was a great football team coming in here. Happy for the guys. This is one to enjoy. It was tough.
Battle of the elements. Props to our defense, they played great. We made enough plays on offense and we cleaned some stuff up. We knew they were going to be a good defense. Like I said, our defense helped us all night and special teams as well, enjoy this one, and we're back on the road.
Q. The touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte, the play he made, did you even see it? It was just a matter of you kind of leading him and knowing he was going to make a play?
DM: He keeps on making them. He keeps on making plays, making me look good. I'm proud to be able to give him some throws to make a play on it.
A one-handed catch, not much else to say about it. It was pretty sweet. Kind of the same type of throw as my first one to him. And he made an even better catch this time. Props to Kayshon for keep on playing. He was huge for us tonight.
That receiver room just keeps on doing good things. Good job in the running game. I think I could have more chances downfield and make better throws. But you can't be too hard on myself and move on to the next one.
Q. As the fourth quarter started, what were you thinking about kind of using the clock or getting some more points or just it had been obviously a pretty tough game up to there. What was going through your mind? I wondered if you had any thoughts on Bo Nix and the unfortunate injury?
DM: There's ups and downs with the game. Our mentality on offense is go down and score. There's no mentality. When it becomes a two-possession game late in the fourth quarter it kind of becomes a different deal. Like at the end, just proud of the offensive line for being able to run it when they know we're going to run it in that second to last drive. And I botched the last third down. I missed the throw.
But really just proud of the guys for running it. It's hard in this league to run it when they know you're going to run it. Those guys were huge.
Fourth quarter, that's when it's crunch time. The snow picked up a little bit. It was pretty sweet, just the fans, the stadium, the atmosphere, it was pretty cool.
There at the end, when we were in the victory formation, that's always the stuff I remember. Pretty sweet.
Bo, yeah, got to train with Bo before the pre-draft. Got to know him and his family and his wife. First off, they're just great people, great Christians. Really enjoy being around Bo Nix and his family.
Obviously the news, it's heartbreaking for what a player he is, the guy he is. And just know praying for Bo, I know he's going to bounce back. He's a great player in this league. Look forward to matching up with him.
We had one in college and he got the best of me. I know he'll bounce back. I know they've got a good team. Should be a tough one next week.
Q. Curious, Mike Vrabel when he was in here he said you guys are excited about the win but not satisfied. Is that how you would also describe the mentality amongst the team? And what does it mean to not be satisfied?
DM: I think not satisfied means we're back on the road. Back on the road in an AFC Championship game. That speaks for itself.
I'm just trying to enjoy these playoff wins. I think in the regulars when you come up with wins and you feel like you can play better, you have this (indiscernible) mentality. And just know that we made enough plays tonight, and obviously I wish I had some plays back. That's part of it part of playing good teams in the playoffs.
Proud of the guys for how we played. Keeps on being a defense picking us up when we need to. And special teams was huge. And so like I said, just back on the root and we've got a tough opponent.
Q. Eight turnovers total in the game between both teams. How much of that do you think was the elements, how much was the caliber of the defenses? What did you attribute what type of game it was?
DM: Credit to the defense. We knew they were going to be good, and they lived up to the hype and all the statistics, and all the ball hunting that we saw on film. They ball hunt. The edges are tough, got to do a better stepping up and, hit guys downfield when we had chances. But like I said, we made enough plays, scored 21 and the defense helped us out with seven. And we did what we had to do in the game. The elements were a little tough. I have to be better with the football when I'm taking off and running. From there, just know that the football is the prized possession. And when we don't turn the ball over and put the team in the best spots, I like our chances.
Q. Played two playoff games; team has two wins. You know what it takes to win in the playoffs. How much tougher was this game than the first game, how much tougher do you expect it to get?
DM: It's going to keep on getting tougher. We keep on playing great defenses with great quarterbacks and teams that deserve to be here. That's what we feel like we deserve to be here, and we've got times where we know we'll have to be at our best in critical moments.
It comes down -- it's going to come down to the end and come down to making plays when you have them. I've just got to keep on giving our guys chances to make plays.
I like our chances with those guys in the locker room. It's fun to be with those guys, fun to show up here and just glad the season keeps on going. Hopefully it goes for a good while longer.
Q. Obviously Coach Vrabel gets a lot of credit for establishing what's here, starting going back to when he was hired. Talk about what he's meant for you, personally. What has he done for Drake Maye to make you a better player?
DM: Yeah, I think he challenges me. He challenges me really every day, every day in practice, every day, every time I come back from the sideline from a drive, he's always got something to say. It's not like it's -- it's usually something meaningful and that's worth something.
Trying to listen to him as much as I can. I know he's played in some big games like this. It's cool when you can see his emotion on his face when he's not even playing, he's coaching, and how much he cares for us how much he cares for each of us personally.
I think he pushes me to be the best I can be. One of the best thing about Coach, he coaches hard, but he also cares about us a lot. I think that goes a long way.
Coach Vrabel, he's a constant now. It's hard when I'm sitting right here and my man is with the camera, on team meetings, he's got a sarcasm that haven't really figured out 100 percent yet. He's got a little tough sarcasm where I want to laugh but you don't really want to.
I think he's a big dude, too. I respect somebody that, shoot, looking me in the eye, and he's always got something to say, and I think it's always something that is either funny or helps the team and helps us win.
Q. I want to ask you a little bit more about the weather if I could. There was the drive you had the touchdown pass to Stef. In that drive it looked like you had a better grip on the ball, quite honestly. Did something change with the weather that enabled you to do that throughout the game? Things seemed to be better after that?
DM: When the snowflakes stop, I think it's a little easier to throw the football, got a little better grip. But really I think C.J. probably would say the same thing. We both probably had some throws that was tough, it was tough to get a grip on it.
It's tough in warmups because you get a feel where the ball doesn't touch the ground and the guys are passing it around with each other and pause. But I think the biggest thing is getting back there with snow and just having a good grip on it and letting it rip.
Like I said, the weather is no excuse, but there's definitely times where the ball rolls around on the ground with the center before the snap, it gets a little wet. So it's definitely tough, but I thought we made enough throws.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports