AFC Notes: Drake Maye, Jaelan Phillips, Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Bills first-round CB Maxwell Hairston shared his excitement over the first (and only) NFL rookie minicamp of his career.

“It was exciting – finally got out there (to) get some action,” Hairston said. “It was a lot, just adjusting from the college game to this, but I enjoyed myself. A lot to work on, but just so good to get my feet wet again. I’m just taking everything that I learned from the guys that have been here before me and trying to apply it to my game. Right now, I’m just trying to execute everything that my coach is teaching me. I was like a little kid trying to go to sleep before Christmas. To still go out there and be confident and know what I have, know what to do, and execute. It’s all just a learning process.”

Dolphins

Dolphins LB Jaelan Phillips noted that talking with a therapist about his feelings helped him grow as a person while he was missing time with an injury.

“I’m an entertainer and my profession is performance-based, and it’s so publicly performance-based,” Phillips told The Athletic. “It’s a really depressing and horrible feeling to be hurt.”

Patriots

Patriots HC Mike Vrabel told reporters he isn’t concerned about some of the interceptions that have been thrown by QB Drake Maye so far this offseason.

“I care about every player’s performance and that we continue to improve. There has been great improvement,” Vrabel said via Pro Football Talk. “Everybody’s going to have a bad day. There are a lot of reasons that go into it. We’re not going to analyze every single practice and have explanations for things that came up. The command, the operation, all those things have continued to improve. Hopefully, the operation, the communication today, and the execution have got to be better. We only have so many of these opportunities. I’m hopeful that in front of us, the media, that we have a better day.”

“I think when I have something to say to Drake, I’ll say it, and I think when Josh [McDaniels] wants to put plays in that can help him or explain what the read is, it’s going to be things that I’m not going to be as knowledgeable at when it relates to quarterbacks,” Vrabel added. “But I think that there will be some other things where I can help him. We don’t have it scripted out — that’s kind of our job is to figure out what to say and when to say it.”