Post Game Press Conference – Patriots HC Jerod Mayo
PATRIOTS HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
October 27, 2024
JM: Good afternoon. I thought it was a good team win. I thought those guys, even though we were down a few guys, we always talk about the next man up mentality. The safeties definitely stepped up today, especially without having Dugger and Peppers back there. I thought the three of those guys did a good job. Going back to the next man up mentality, you lose Drake [Maye] there early in the game. I thought Jacoby [Brissett] was ready to go. Was it perfect? No. But at the same time I thought the operation was good. I thought he made some good throws. We just got to continue to build on that. I thought up front, the pass pro was pretty good. There was a time when 95 [Quinnen Williams] started taking the game over a little bit. But I thought, again, the guys showed the resilience they’ve developed over the past few weeks. Really proud of the guys. There was a lot of noise and a lot of chatter. I’m very appreciative of just their attitude and professionalism on an everyday basis. I thought it was good. Look, I would say the guys on the special teams, I thought the energy overall was better. It’s good to get a win here at home in Gillette.
Q: I think with the week that was here, it came down to, sports can be funny, it came down to a fourth-and-goal at the one with 25 seconds left. What did that mean to you to watch your team rally together and put it in, but also come off hooting and hollering and what did you say to them in response in that locker room?
JM: It means a lot. When you preach something and it shows up in the game, it’s always going to be more impactful. I would say there comes a point in time where everyone in the stadium knows you’ve got to run the ball. Whether if we’re on defense or if we’re on offense, there comes a point in time where they know, everyone knows, the fans know, it’s a run play. You’ve got to really just defeat the man across from you. Look, fortunately our guys got movement and we scored, so it was great.
Q: Kyle Dugger was added to the injury report late. How did you have to do some last-minute adjustments? It looked like Jonathan Jones was playing more safety than usual.
JM: Yeah, J. Jones, another guy – we talk about versatility in our personnel. He knows every single spot, every single location. I thought Marte [Mapu] did a good job as far as controlling the huddle, communicating overall. Those guys played well. Again, just to go back to the next man up, not to sound cliché or redundant, that’s the mentality we have to have if we want to build what we want to build.
Q: The comments, saying that the Patriots played soft. This week, different outcome. What word would you use to describe the way the team played today?
JM: I don’t think I’ve ever really questioned the resilience of this team. I’m not going to go back to those comments. What I will say is we have a room full of guys with the mentality that you got to change the page every day. Every day is a new day. We have to get better and understand that practice is the most important thing we do until we get to the game.
Q: Four yards per carry allowed defensively. What did you do this week to get some improvement?
JM: It was under four yards a carry. I think it was 3.9. It’s really the guys going out there and executing. There’s no magic pill or magic drink or anything like that. It’s a mentality that we’re going to stop the run. I thought for the most part today we did stop the run. Saying that, we’ll go back and watch the film. There were a few that popped on us a little bit. We’ll get those corrected.
Q: You talked about the noise and the chatter this week. What would you say you learned about yourself throughout this week?
JM: For me, look, I don’t hear that stuff. You talk about adversity, you talk about chatter. It will always be there. I think there’s a difference between, like, noise and signals. If I can pick up on signals of what’s coming out of the locker room from you guys talking to the players, that’s great. The rest of it’s just noise to me. My ultimate goal is to get this team better every single day.
Q: You mentioned seeing resilience from this team that you said kind of built up the last few weeks. How and where did you see them build that resilience over the past few weeks?
JM: I think I told you guys, I thought the past three weeks of practice have been pretty good. It’s good to see that show up in the game.
Q: We saw Drake Maye go down in the second quarter. How is he doing, if you have any update on him after this game?
JM: I walked in at halftime and saw him. The competitor that he is, obviously he wanted to go back out there and play. But there’s a protocol that he has to go through. Again, can’t wait to get him back.
Q: It seemed like the run game struggled to get things going for most of the game but started to kind of figure it out later. Was there something specific you saw to help them get back on track?
JM: I always say, like, in the run game, there are certain philosophies where a three-yard run is not a good run. But if it’s physical to me, I liken it to boxing, those are body blows. If you get enough of those body blows, you get to the second half, you start to pop some bigger runs. I think that’s what happened today.
Q: Second quarter, fourth quarter, situation with two minutes to go, two timeouts. You took obviously a different approach. What is your thought about those two different situations? Do you feel the outcome of the game will give you more confidence to play aggressively, more aggressively, going forward?
JM: Look, I’ll just talk about the end of the half. At the end of the half you lose your starting quarterback, you just want to get the clock running just so we can reset at halftime. That was really the mentality there. I know the fans and stuff, they don’t like it. They always want you to try to go out there. I would say it was just a chance for us to get in the locker room and hit the reset button.
Q: We were aware that Ja’Whaun Bentley addressed the team. I know other leaders did, as well, Jon Jones. How much did that leadership play a role in helping turn things around or at least getting the right message across?
JM: Yeah, to me it’s always been that way. The head coach has a message, and you lean on your captains or leaders on the squad to disseminate that message, reinforce that message amongst the rest of the group. I thought those guys did that this week. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Q: Obviously you sent a message to the group. You see this type of response today, buy-in that the group demonstrated. What does that mean big picture about you as a coach and also this group playing for you?
JM: Yeah, I’m not sure what it means for me as a coach personally. I’m proud of the guys in the locker room, how they approach each and every day no matter what is going on. It’s not just the media as far as noise. It’s family, friends, all of that. Social media. All of that stuff. Look, they hear it. At the same time, just don’t listen to it. You just continue to go on the practice field and get better. I thought we did that.
Q: Looked like a helmet-to-helmet hit that took out Drake Maye. Did you have any conversations with the officials? Were you surprised that a penalty wasn’t called?
JM: They didn’t call it. I had conversations with them the entire game. I thought some of those calls were questionable. At the same time, I have to go back and watch the film. We’ll have those conversations.
Q: Not to belabor the resiliency tag here but if anyone personifies that, you could argue Rhamondre Stevenson does, what he’s gone through this year. A few big plays here, I know not a lot of yards. Can you talk about him? And he was not in first-and-goal from the two, when you kicked the field goal. Why wasn’t he in?
JM: Rhamondre is one of our best players. I haven’t backed down from that at all. There was some tempo in there, and didn’t have the opportunity to get him in at that time. Thanks.
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