Read the full transcript from QB Malik Willis' media availability on November 4, 2026.

Hafley mentioned that during your guys' film sessions, you guys watch other elite quarterbacks to help you with your decision making. I'm curious, who are some of those guys that you watch and how beneficial are those?

Malik Willis: Just a lot of guys. We try to continue to just focus on the understanding of what we're trying to do and what the defense is trying to take away and just making the best decision possible when that arises. And sometimes we call a play and it's meant for something else and what is our best get out of jail free card?

I've got kind of a long-winded question here about whether this is a player-led team and whether it's too young to be a player-led team. So I used to cover the Miami Heat and I covered them in 2006 when they had Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Hall of Famers, but Pat Riley was the coach. He was clearly in charge. Same thing when I covered the Big Three Heat with LeBron and Dwyane and Chris Bosh, Eric Spolstra was in charge, but they had good leadership from the players. It struck me that you talking to Ollie was kind of a player-led type of a thing, but is this a player-led team? Is it too young to be a player-led team? And how do you define a player-led team?

Malik Willis: I think age is just a number. I think that Haf does a great job of keeping us all together, leading us from the forefront, and then we're leading ourselves and continuing to try to build that. And I think and in continuing to do that, we focus on trying to get better every week, like we're trying to get better for the Lions that we play next week.

What is the benefit of having good leadership from the players in that locker room, on the field and off the field?

Malik Willis: I mean, those are guys you be out there with. So it's really a level of accountability and you holding each other to it. You don't want to let your guys down, as well as nobody wants to let you down.

You're going up against a team that's ranked 32nd in passing yards allowed per game. Do you go into this matchup thinking this is an opportunity for you to put some on your shoulders in and maybe have a bigger impact in how this offense moves the ball this week?

Malik Willis: I wouldn't say that at all. That's just a statistics number. I mean, we watched the film, they're a well-coached team and they have a couple ups and downs like everybody else in the league and they just so happen to be statistically at that, but they've won a lot of games. They've won more games than we have and you put it like that, it makes you really think about like whether that stat is really true or not. So I just try to focus on continuing to try to instill the game plan, make sure we're all on the same page and try to go out there and execute.

On the topic of stats, how much do you look at your stats and how much do you think the stats are honest about how you've performed as a quarterback this season?

Malik Willis: I wouldn't say either way. I think you just try to really look at it as it comes and that's each play, one play at a time. Obviously, the stats are the stats and that's what's on the board, but there's so many different reasons for each and every one of them. You look at them watching the tape and it's like, oh, blah, blah, blah, or oh, blah, blah, blah. But I try not to get too caught up in that and try to continue to push forward and worry about what we can. And that's the future and continuing to try to get better every chance we get.

What do you judge yourself on? Because I've said that the numbers can lie in this situation, but with you, I look at are you repeating your mistakes or are you correcting them? Are you putting the offense in a good situation? Are you making people around you better? Do you look at those types of things? Maybe not even those specific things. Do you look at those types of things?

Malik Willis: I mean, from the outside looking in, it's pretty much opinion based because you don't really have an idea what we're trying to get done. And that's not a detriment or anything towards you or anybody else but that's just the reality of it. All you can see is what goes on and not what's behind it. But at the same time, you want to just try to take care of the football. And I've had some interceptions and more than that, you can't really be too caught up on that because it's tip drill, a couple of tip passes that turned into a – it's like not a bad decision, but it plays out like that. It's football, it's chaos out there. And just continue to try to focus on the mistakes, like you said, and fix those. I think we're trying to do a good job of doing that. And like you said, you just take it one play at a time. You can try to push forward because you don't have enough time to look back. Because we keep looking back and you're stuck, now you're in a cycle of this losing mentality. You just got to continue to focus on execution.

With a young team like you guys have, obviously the Jets game, you guys play clutch when the moment arrives. Last week, there was three series where you guys go from a three-point lead to a 10-point deficit. How does a young team learn how to elevate themselves and play poised in those moments?

Malik Willis: I mean, you hate to say it, but that was just an opportunity right there. You continue to learn from stuff like that in those moments and what you feel in those moments and where you need to dig deep and continue to strive for it and why we need to execute every time we get a chance and why every series matters and why every play comes down, it matters. And a lot of times it gets blamed on one or two plays, that's not the reality of it. It takes the entire composure of a game to really, dedicate whether you win or lose. So I think we just gotta continue to push forward. That's it.

Hafley kind of gave an evaluation of where he thought the receiving unit is at this point in the season. And he said he's seen a lot of growth and a bright future for some of the young guys. He gave Malik Washington a lot of praise. Similar question for you. Look at where this receiving unit was at the beginning of the season until now, what have you seen from a growth standpoint?

Malik Willis: Super proud of those guys. They continue to get better, like Haf said, and they put in the time and effort and they want to get better. We all make mistakes at every position, every level of it. So that's not detrimental to your growth if you can learn from it, if you can continue to grow from it and not make the same mistakes, like he said.

One of the things that stood out when I was looking at the box score was that there was five receivers over 30 yards last game. Is that a point of emphasis for you to spread the ball around or just how do you view that?

Malik Willis: I just try to throw it to the open guy for the most part and then continue to not lock in on guys. I think it's hard, especially some teams. If you get a guy that's a high tier guy in the eyes of the media, they feel like they have to live up to that and they want them to live up to that as a good teammate. But I think all the guys work hard here and they're all doing their part to continue to get better. And I just try to throw it to the guys that show up.

Last week, obviously you've got your legs and you've got the ability to scramble. I know that you're on injury but with a groin injury. Did that contribute to possibly why you didn't run more or was that just what the Patriots were doing?

Malik Willis: I think that's just how the game played out. I'm not sure that had anything to do with it really.

That was the second week in a row you've executed a double-digit play drive at the end of the half that ends in six points and leaves fewer than 10 seconds on the clock for your opponent. What seems to be clicking for you and the offense in those situations?

Malik Willis: I think it's just continuously trying to practice that way. When we get the opportunity to work that type of stuff and understanding the situation, I think everybody on the field, the o-line receivers, the running backs, are doing a great job of standing bounds and keeping the clock moving in situations where we need to get out of bounds and just communicating that in the huddle and making sure we're communicating that on the field. And I think they've been doing a great job.

I think you mentioned last week that it's part of the learning experience. So there was something I think you experienced either in Green Bay or Tennessee where you're in a two-minute drill and you took a sack. Is it just kind of drawing from learning from that experience right there?

Malik Willis: Yeah. I mean, when you feel like a play or two could change the fate of a game, and I think I was at that point and I took a sack in the red zone. We had to burn the timeout and we needed that timeout when we were on our last two-minute drive. So it's just understanding the importance of each play. And that's why you can't really look back. You got to continue to look forward and try to focus on how you can execute this play to the best of your ability. Like we're in the red zone, throwing it away versus taking the sack right there or forcing it into coverage when we're in the red zone, when we already have three points, just understanding that stuff and not continuing to make those same mistakes.

How do you personally judge or weigh when you need to step in and say something to a guy? Whether it's encouragement, whether it's holding them accountable like you mentioned with Ollie the other day. Situationally, how do you judge when it's time for you to step in and speak?

Malik Willis: I think that building the relationship is more important than just jumping on somebody when something happens. I think building that relationship you can see when somebody's feeling some type of way and that's when you should step in and say something and pick them up or let them know blah, blah, blah. It doesn't matter. But just continuing to stay together throughout everything and just continuing to build this team the right way.

Going back to the groin question, you've been on the injury report with the thumb and the groin. You've played seven games now as the full-time starter, how do you feel physically? I know you don't have like a torn ACL or anything, but how do you feel after taking the sacks, playing all these snaps? How do you feel physically?

Malik Willis: I think it's a blessing, obviously, to get the opportunity to just go out there and play. Obviously, we want to be in better standings as far as win-loss column. But at the same time, we're getting a lot of, just valuable reps, valuable opportunities to gain experience and learn from the stuff that we might not have gotten right for the first time. And I think that's what's the most cool about it.

And so you don't feel any kind of my shoulder is a little sore or anything as opposed to playing scout team? You don't feel any kind of nagging, lingering things like that.

Malik Willis: I'm good.