Pats HC Jerod Mayo joins! 'Mayo Monday'!
Has Maye exceeded Mayo's expectations? Mayo addresses "soft" comments! Thoughts?
Has Maye exceeded Mayo's expectations? Mayo addresses "soft" comments! Thoughts?
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00:00Hi, Coach.
00:01Hey.
00:02How are you doing?
00:03Doing all right.
00:04So you focus this week, big focus in practice,
00:07starting fast, and you get over there and you started fast.
00:10Well, thanks for starting us off on a positive note.
00:12Yes.
00:13Yeah, they did.
00:14You know, the guys started fast.
00:15You know, I think defensively, we were only at five plays
00:17in the first quarter.
00:18I thought Drake went out there and, you know,
00:21really ran the offense, ran the script the right way
00:23and made plays.
00:24And, you know, we scored a touchdown.
00:26So that was good to see.
00:27When you, your expectations for a rookie quarterback
00:30in his second game, has he exceeded those?
00:33Is he right where you thought he'd be?
00:34I mean.
00:35I mean, it's kind of, you know, it's kind of where we thought
00:38he would be.
00:39He's progressing.
00:40You know, last game he had, what, three turnovers.
00:42This game, no turnovers.
00:43And that's progress.
00:44And so we look forward to seeing that continue in the future.
00:47Gerard, when you say after the game,
00:49because we've been talking about this
00:51and we're trying to figure it out, that your team is soft.
00:54Playing soft.
00:55Playing soft.
00:56Yeah.
00:58Yeah.
00:59We're playing soft.
01:00OK.
01:01Because if you look at the first, you know,
01:02going back to training camp, like,
01:03there was definitely some toughness all around the place.
01:04And we still had the same players.
01:05And we just got to play that way.
01:07So, like, when you say playing soft,
01:09is that like they're not rallying to the football?
01:13They're making mental mistakes?
01:14Like, give me some.
01:15What does it mean?
01:16Yeah.
01:17Context to it.
01:18To me, I said it.
01:19I said it last night.
01:20We got to be able to run the ball.
01:21We have to stop the run and cover kicks.
01:23And we did none of those.
01:24And that's what equals a tough football team.
01:27Would you say that the team last year played soft?
01:30At times.
01:31You know, at times.
01:32Last year, we played soft at times.
01:33There have always been games within each individual season
01:36where you feel like, you know, you played soft that game.
01:39And like I said, to correct what I said,
01:41it's not that we have a soft football team.
01:43We are just playing soft over the past few weeks.
01:46When you look at the game yesterday, though,
01:47Drake May seems like he has no issue or he's not nervous
01:50about throwing the ball and getting it downfield.
01:54It seemed like there were points yesterday where that could have
01:56been helpful for you guys.
01:57And I know you're not AVP, but you talk about the script.
02:00Why is he handing off the ball so often instead of just,
02:03you know, telling him, hey, open it up, do whatever you want?
02:05Yeah, I don't think it was so often, in my opinion.
02:07It was two drives that we're really talking about
02:09where we got, you know, kind of away from the pass game.
02:12It was two, three and out.
02:13So we're talking about six plays and five of those being runs.
02:16But after that, I mean, we did try to push the ball.
02:19What do you think that you can do and the coaching staff
02:22can do to get your guys back to playing that tough mentality
02:27of football?
02:27Is it what can you maybe do and practice something differently
02:30after you're evaluating this?
02:32Yeah, I mean, look, we practice hard every Wednesday.
02:34We're in full pads.
02:35And it's just about embracing the grind, embracing the suck,
02:37and just going out there and getting it done.
02:40Your old teammate, Devin McCourty, said when last night
02:44said when you hear about a team that's not tough,
02:47a team that's soft, as you said, or playing soft,
02:52you think about the head coach and you
02:55have to ask that head coach what he's
02:57doing to get these guys ready.
02:59Are you doing enough to get them ready?
03:02Sorry, I think I am.
03:04And then saying that, look, obviously our record
03:06does not reflect that.
03:07We are where our record says we are.
03:09We're one in six football team right now.
03:11You know, as far as practice and really demanding a lot
03:14from the players, we all do that from a coaching perspective.
03:16And maybe we have to do it a little bit more.
03:19But we are what our record says we are.
03:21Do you feel like you have the right leaders in the locker
03:23room that can, if it becomes necessary for teammates
03:27to motivate teammates, do you have the right guys?
03:30I feel like we do.
03:31And once again, let me correct you.
03:33It's not that we have a soft football team.
03:35We're playing soft.
03:36Would you say that the performance from Drake May
03:40we've seen in the two games was close to how
03:43he was performing in practice?
03:45Is this about how he's been over the course of the year?
03:48I would say he's gotten better every single day,
03:51every single week.
03:52Do you look back on it at all and regret not starting him?
03:55I don't regret any of the way we handled the quarterback
03:57situation.
03:58There have been questions.
03:59There have been arguments on both sides of you guys
04:01going for two yesterday.
04:02What went into that decision?
04:03And do you think it was the right one still?
04:05I do.
04:06And what I would say is a philosophical thing.
04:08Look, at some point in time, you're
04:09going to have to go for two anyway.
04:10So if you go for two in that instance,
04:12you know exactly what situation you're in going forward.
04:16Look, even saying that, we should have executed the play
04:20and got the two points.
04:22And we would never even be talking about this.
04:24But that was the thing in mind.
04:26Kendrick Bourne said that guys need
04:28to make different decisions and referenced
04:31staying up all night and eating whatever quote.
04:35You feel like that?
04:36You feel like guys are not prepared?
04:37I would say, no, I feel like guys are prepared.
04:40He's talking about just when you're outside of the building.
04:42That's part of being a professional football player.
04:44You have to take care of your body.
04:46You have to be ready to work every single day.
04:48I'm not sure exactly what he's talking about.
04:50Now, in saying that, everyone at this point in time
04:52is looking for solutions.
04:53And whether it's the media, whether it's
04:55coaches, whoever it is, everyone's
04:57looking for solutions because we are one in six.
04:59When it comes to looking for solutions,
05:01is it worrisome at all to you that it
05:04seems like some of them are pointing
05:06fingers in the other direction, saying that guys
05:08need to have less ego?
05:11Yeah, I don't look at it as pointing fingers.
05:13I look at it as, once again, those guys using the media
05:17as an opportunity to get the messaging across the board.
05:19Now, look, you can also say it to that man face to face,
05:23but that's how they feel.
05:25What about using social media?
05:26We're all talking about Jalen Polk's Instagram story.
05:29Have you seen it?
05:30What do you think about that?
05:31Did he seem upset after that game?
05:33I haven't seen it.
05:34And look, Jalen right now is frustrated.
05:36He's not playing at the level that he would like to play.
05:39Again, though, he has to go through the fire.
05:41Like, all right, we've got to push through.
05:43We've got to get through adversity before you end up
05:45being a good player.
05:45No matter what player you're talking about,
05:47they've had runs like that in their career.
05:49Talk about the greatest of all time in Tom Brady.
05:51He's had runs where it just didn't go right.
05:54This is part of the process, is going through adversity
05:58and pushing through.
05:59And this is also an opportunity for us
06:00as a team to ignore all the noise on the outside
06:03and really start to come together and put
06:06a good game together.
06:07What I will say is we've got to do a better job playing
06:09complementary football.
06:11Every game that we walk out of, one phase, at least one phase,
06:14has had a good game.
06:15Now we just need the other two phases to step up their game.
06:18And every single game has been different,
06:20whether it's special teams balling out now
06:22and defense not playing well, offense balling out,
06:25putting up points, now special team.
06:27It's complementary football that we're not playing.
06:29Long flight back.
06:30I'm sure you looked at film.
06:31What did you see on the punt return?
06:34Yeah, I saw a punt that, look, Bryce
06:37has been a weapon for us the entire year
06:38as far as flipping the field.
06:40One thing I would say is if you punt the ball right
06:42down the middle of the field, it puts a lot of stress
06:45on everyone else.
06:45And that's what happened.
06:47When you start to think of complementary football,
06:51I remember as a player, I think the one thing that I think
06:53is the most important is, forget about soft,
06:57but being mentally tough during times that are adverse.
07:01Do you look at your team and look at your coaches
07:04and saying, OK, we've got to make sure
07:06that these guys understand mental toughness is going
07:09to get us back to where we want to be when it's all three
07:13phases playing well.
07:15It's not the stupid pre-snap penalties.
07:18Do you feel like that's something
07:20that guys need to take more pride in and just
07:22being mentally tough?
07:24These guys have pride.
07:26And I tell them all the time, hard work works.
07:28And that's what we have to do.
07:29We'll correct the film today.
07:30The players will be off tomorrow.
07:32And then Wednesday, it's back in full pads
07:34to go out there and do better.
07:35There's several powerful prognosticators out there.
07:40Michael Lombardi has been very outspoken about this show,
07:44this team this year.
07:46Last week, when you said, I don't
07:47know about why the team's roster was where it was,
07:50he took it as Bill Belichick bashing.
07:52And he says that, why are the Patriots
07:55rebuilding when the Washington Commanders are 5-2?
07:57Other teams have turned around rosters quicker.
07:59This team is just making excuses.
08:01I'm not making any excuse.
08:02I think it all falls on me.
08:04And I'm OK saying that.
08:07You're the head coach of this football team.
08:09Were you comfortable, excited about the roster
08:13heading into the season?
08:14Did you think that you, as an organization,
08:17you had done everything that you could do to get this roster
08:19where it needed to be?
08:20As an organization, we're always trying
08:22to bring in good players, whether it's
08:24through free agency, through the draft, through all those things.
08:27And at the same time, it takes time to do that stuff.
08:30And there's no shot to anyone else.
08:32Ultimately, me and Elliott, we're
08:34responsible for the roster and for what
08:36we put out there on the field.
08:37When you say that after all these losses,
08:39you guys walk off the field and at least one phase of the game
08:43played pretty well, what was that yesterday?
08:46Who do you think played well yesterday?
08:47I thought the offense, especially to start the game,
08:50definitely played well.
08:51I would say our pass protection, at times,
08:52looked a lot better than it has throughout the season.
08:55Now, in saying that, we couldn't run the ball.
08:57So it's like, all right, so now it's
08:59almost like a puzzle trying to put all this stuff together.
09:02But again, that's what we're going through.
09:04And it's tough.
09:05It's tough to win this league.
09:07And we just have to continue to chip it to rock.
09:09One of the things that I know it would be difficult for me,
09:14we all come from different generations of players.
09:18And how do you, I know you want these guys to have the ability
09:22to have their own voice.
09:24But how do you get them to not really use social media
09:30as an avenue for them to maybe kind of have
09:35expressed their disappointment?
09:36Because then it gets fans and people on the media
09:40getting to try to read into what they're saying.
09:44How is that like for you as a player to kind of have to,
09:46or not a player, as a coach, who played in an era that really
09:49didn't have that, to try to be able to balance the two of,
09:53like, all right, I get you're using social media.
09:55But try to use it for something a little bit more positive.
10:00You know what I'm trying to get at?
10:01I kind of do.
10:03What I would say is, don't put me in your generation.
10:05Like, we had social media when I was playing.
10:07So we definitely had social media.
10:09All right, well, maybe my generation.
10:11But in saying that, I would say, look,
10:12that's their personal platform.
10:13Now, would you like them to use it productively all the time?
10:18Apps, 100%.
10:19I'm not going to sit there and say, well, you can't throw a
10:22piece, he says, a piece on eyeballs.
10:24Like, that's where the media and the fans just look into it.
10:27And everyone's trying to figure it out.
10:28And one person knows what that actually means.
10:30So maybe you should ask him.
10:32I don't know.
10:32You have social media.
10:34But it's not social media.
10:35It's really the message.
10:36I mean, the message is, the message,
10:39you can correct the record, because he's your player.
10:41You talk to him.
10:42Jalen Polk does not seem happy.
10:44He's a guy who you commented on him being mentally ready to go.
10:48And what was the whole comment I made on that?
10:52That he needs to.
10:53He wasn't mentally ready.
10:55He wasn't mentally ready to go.
10:57I do think he's going to be a good football
10:59player in this league.
11:00But right now, we have not seen the final evolution of Jalen
11:03Polk.
11:04Correct.
11:04And so, hold on.
11:06OK, well, you gave me a hold on, but just to finish my question.
11:11Then he goes and says, I have the best hands in the NFL.
11:14And then he turns around after a disappointing effort.
11:17I think he probably was disappointed in himself
11:21yesterday and posted something on social media.
11:23That appears to us to be how the player feels.
11:27But if you put that out there, that you
11:28have the best hands in the league,
11:30you have to go out there and do it.
11:32And so, again, everything will be solved with a win.
11:36And so, no, seriously, it'll all be solved with a win.
11:41That's how I kind of look at it.
11:43That's how you look at it.
11:44If you want to go out there and say,
11:45I'm the best corner in the league.
11:46I'm the best receiver.
11:47You said it.
11:48Now you've got to prove it every single week.
11:51I've been around players that have said that in the past
11:53and have been great players.
11:55And they say something.
11:56They've got to go out there and prove it every single week.
11:58That's the beauty of the sport.
12:00I think that some of this comes from Elliott Wolfe
12:03in February saying, we're going to have less of a hard-ass vibe
12:07around here.
12:08And I think people, some, look and go, all right,
12:11that's a different approach when it comes to this organization.
12:15That's, I think, what your approach is.
12:18And they go, all right, is Gerard Mayo too much of a friend
12:21and not enough of a boss?
12:22It's not about being a friend.
12:23For me, I'm the head coach of the team.
12:25And I understood that.
12:26When I got into coaching in 19, I
12:28learned that where I played with a guy in Dante Hightower
12:31and then had to coach him.
12:32I played with a guy in Jamie Collins and had to coach him.
12:35And there was a day, it was like an instant where you're like,
12:38man, I'm the linebacker coach.
12:39I'm not your friend.
12:40It's the exact same thing right now.
12:42I'm the head coach of the football team.
12:43And my job is to get these guys better
12:45and develop them to go out there and win games.
12:47That's what it comes down to.
12:49And I understand that.
12:50It's not about being hard.
12:50It's not about being soft.
12:52That's not what it's about.
12:53It's about going out there, hitting the targets,
12:56playing with good fundamentals, and playing good football.
12:58And look, everyone else, they can read into whatever
13:00they want to read into.
13:02We need to win football games.
13:03Not only now, we need to build for the future as well.
13:06And that's the main objective.
13:08I know you don't want to control what your guys are saying.
13:11But when it's week after week and you're not
13:13playing with pride, people have to check their egos,
13:16some of the defense seems like they're only
13:19playing for themselves, selfish play,
13:21does it get to a point where you say to these guys,
13:24hey, if you guys keep putting this out there,
13:26this is all the media is going to be talking about.
13:28Do you have those conversations with them?
13:30Because when you're losing games over and over again,
13:32it creates a scene which may not be true,
13:37but it gives us a look into the locker room
13:39that doesn't look right.
13:40Yeah, I've had those conversations
13:41with a couple of the players where, you know,
13:44they say that's not what I meant.
13:45And I've said things and, you know,
13:47impressors where it's not what I meant.
13:50Like going back to even yesterday,
13:52we have a soft team.
13:52No, we're playing soft.
13:53And so, you know, I don't really,
13:56I'm not going to try to control their lives
13:58or anything like that.
13:59Those guys know if you put something out there,
14:01you're responsible for it.
14:02And it's out there.
14:03It's out there forever.
14:04But I think the Jalen Polk thing is about accountability
14:06from my perspective, where if you stink or you're good,
14:10then it's OK as long as you have a mirror you're looking into
14:14and you're knowing that you can get better
14:16or you're doing your job.
14:17And Jalen Polk on the field, he's a rookie.
14:19You know, it's early, hasn't been doing his job.
14:22And all I hear from him on social media or in the press
14:26is everybody else is talked about except his own failings
14:30on the field.
14:31And I don't know how you get better
14:32if you don't accept there's a problem in the first place.
14:35I think he does accept that there is a problem.
14:37He's putting in the extra work before practice,
14:39after practice.
14:41Just at some point in time, it hits an inflection point
14:43where something clicks and he becomes a good player.
14:45What I will say is I hope the team, us sitting here
14:48at one and six, they see me.
14:50I'm doing all these interviews.
14:52It's who I am.
14:53It's what I do.
14:54And being able to deal with adversity,
14:56I mean, it's hard to lead at one and six.
14:59It's easy at six and one.
15:00And for me, it's in my fabric.
15:03It's in my DNA to keep pushing forward.
15:05And I think the guys hopefully see this.
15:07I'm not sure if they tune into this show, but maybe they do.
15:10They should.
15:11For Wiggy.
15:12Do you think Jalen Polk is maybe putting too much pressure
15:16on himself?
15:16I know as a former receiver, sometimes
15:20if you get in the zone where you're putting all this
15:23pressure, especially when it comes to catching the football,
15:25you kind of might get in the zone
15:27of where you have the drop sees.
15:28Do you think he might be putting too much pressure on himself
15:31to want to be perfect, which could potentially
15:34be then leading to some of the drops?
15:36Putting pressure on yourself is how we got here.
15:39Even you as a player, putting pressure on yourself
15:41is how you got to the league.
15:43And look, again, everyone has to deal
15:46with pressure in their own way.
15:48And look, it's going to turn.
15:50I wish I could give you a date, or a time,
15:53or a year of when it's going to turn for him.
15:55But again, he'll be a very good player in this league.
15:59All right, time for the Hellman's Mayo question
16:02of the week for Gerard Mayo.
16:03You can purchase Hellman's at your local Walmart or grocery
16:06store to add extra deliciousness and creamy flavor
16:09to your game day dishes this football season.
16:11From a texter, they want to know,
16:13and you may not have an opinion either way,
16:16do you prefer London or Germany when
16:18it comes to playing overseas?
16:19Yeah, that's a tough one.
16:22I don't care.
16:23It doesn't matter.
16:24Food wasn't better in here.
16:25Again, the attitude is any time, any place, anywhere.
16:28So ask me when we go to Brazil or something.
16:32Well, the surface looked good.
16:34The grass looked good out there, at least.
16:35It was slick.
16:37It was slippery, huh?
16:38You said it looked good.
16:39You say it looks slick.
16:41This right here is a microcosm of all the stories.
16:43Well, you tell us how it was.
16:45No, no, no.
16:46I mean, I played at Riverside School.
16:48You guys have your opinions on this.
16:49Seven stunts, I would say.
16:51Everyone has on seven stunts.
16:52Everybody's an expert, so they have to do it.
16:54That's right.
16:55That's right.
16:55Yeah.
16:55All right, Gerard Mayo.
16:56Well, thank you.
16:57Appreciate you guys.
16:58All right.
16:59That is Gerard Mayo, head coach of the New England Patriots
17:01on a Mayo Monday.