Patriots HC Jerod Mayo Postgame Press Conference
PATRIOTS HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
December 22, 2024
JM: Good evening. Never feel good after a loss. Our expectations still remain high, and we’ll get better. We’ll learn from this, and we’ll move forward. Fire away.
On the turnovers in the second half…
JM: Yeah, we always talk about winning the turnover battle, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that today. I mean, that’s a good football team, on the road, hostile environment. Can’t do it.
On any consideration to switching things up at running back…
JM: Look, we always talk about how the football is the most important thing, and we can’t turn the ball over, especially against a good team like this.
On the fourth down decisions…
JM: I’m not going to get too much into the thought process on that. I tried to do what’s best for the team.
On punting from midfield in the fourth quarter…
JM: To me, it’s a field-position thing.
On the laterals…
JM: I’ve got to watch the film to see exactly what happened there. I tried to see it on the jumbotron, but unfortunately, I couldn’t really see it.
On what he meant by, ‘It’s a field-position thing’…
JM: For me, it’s all about – our timeouts, especially at that point in time, were definitely important. When you have three timeouts at the end of the game, you have a chance to get the ball back, and we didn’t do it.
On why he chose to do the onside kick…
JM: It was a good onside kick. We didn’t come up with it, and that was the decision I made.
On Drake Maye running a little bit more by design…
JM: For us, we thought that was best for the football team. He can make plays with his legs, and he did that today.
On why using more designed runs for Drake was best for the football team…
JM: We’re always looking for ways to win.
On Drake’s interception…
JM: I’ve got to go back and watch the film, just to be on the same page. But again, I’m sure he’s disappointed in throwing an interception. All of us are, and we’ll learn from it.
On if he thought there was interference on the interception play…
JM: Again, I’ve got to watch the film as far as that’s concerned.
On the Bills’ procedure penalty on the kickoff…
JM: Yeah, that’s always a consideration. To me, the offense is doing a good job, and we wanted to get those guys back on the field.
On what attributed to the offense’s fast start…
JM: Honestly, I’m not sure. I have to watch the film. The guys were ready; in the locker room, I felt like the guys were ready to go. They went out there and started fast. Now, we’ve got to do the same thing in the second half and put them together.
On the pillars of the defensive game plan…
JM: For our game plan, obviously, it starts with the quarterback. In saying that, we felt pretty good about the game plan. I’m not really sure as far as points, but we talk about complimentary football, and the offense being able to put together those long drives also helped us out. So, it all ties in together.
On the lessons learned for Drake…
JM: Yeah, that’s what makes Drake a very good player, a special player. His mentality of learning from his mistakes, and he’s not a repeat error guy, as I’ve said before. We look forward to getting back out on the practice field and getting better.
On what he’s learned…
JM: I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot, not only about this team, but also about myself. We’ll continue to push forward, and we’ll get better. As I said earlier, look, the standard, the expectations still remain high. No matter what, where we play, who we play, it doesn’t matter. The expectation is that we’re going to go out there and win football games.
On Kayshon Boutte’s bounce back and apology to Alex Van Pelt…
JM: Yeah, just apologize like a man and move forward. Move on.
On what he thinks about the expectations going into this game vs. how the team performed…
JM: Yeah, we never get into the expectations of people outside of our building. For me, I think these guys, they have the mindset to go out there and be physical, have great mental toughness and try to win football games.
On if his team is the tough team he was hoping they would be…
JM: Look, we’ve got a bunch of tough guys in there, and I don’t question that. Again, though, look, we want to win football games, and that’s why we’re here.
On what his team brought to the table today…
JM: Yeah, I’m very, very proud of these men. They came out here, they played hard and unfortunately didn’t walk away with a win.
On the throw behind the line that Buffalo recovered for a touchdown…
JM: Look, that’s another one I have to go back to the film and watch it. I’ll answer it for you tomorrow.
On what he learned about his team today…
JM: Not much. These guys have been coming to work every single day, regardless of what the record is, as true professionals, and I appreciate that. Look, hopefully, at least it’s some wins here in the last couple weeks.
On the run defense…
JM: Look, again, the big run hurt us, and we’ve just got to do a better job tackling.
On the red zone offense…
JM: It was a little bit frustrating, but as you’ve watched around the league, there have been times where guys run it there, don’t run it. But we had to get the ball in the end zone through the air, and that was the decision.
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