Patriots Head Coach Jerod Mayo joins!
Mayo clarifies his statement, "You said it. I didn't". Why didn't Maye QB sneak? Was it a concussion issue? Are Mayo and Van Pelt on the same page?
Mayo clarifies his statement, "You said it. I didn't". Why didn't Maye QB sneak? Was it a concussion issue? Are Mayo and Van Pelt on the same page?
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00:00Coach.
00:01How are you?
00:02I'm good.
00:03How are you?
00:04I'm seeing better Mondays.
00:05You came in, you came in a little hot this morning.
00:07I mean, I don't know.
00:08No, I did come in hot this morning because, you know, the remark that I made last night,
00:13like you said, I didn't, I didn't mean anything by it, you know, maybe a flippant response.
00:17And I tried to clarify that with the next question saying, ultimately, it's my decision.
00:22Ultimately, all those decisions, offensively, defensively and specialty fall on me.
00:26And so I just want to get that out there.
00:30I think, I guess there's some who feel like there's this narrative out there that at times
00:36you are pointing the finger in different directions when it comes to the result, not being what
00:43it could be.
00:44Like what?
00:45Like people point to you in your, the infamous soft player comment, soft team comment.
00:53Now everyone says that.
00:55You're out of the curve.
00:59You know, I can't coach these guys when they're out there on the field, but it's on them when
01:03they get out there like that.
01:04And those are things that the players have heard me say who ultimately that's who I care
01:08about the most.
01:09I have said that since I was a position coach, the exact same thing.
01:12So, you know, I mean, it's the, it's the world we live in and it's a different seat that
01:16I'm sitting in.
01:17I understand that.
01:18And look, people are going to take it how it, how they want to take it.
01:20When I'm talking to football players, the guys in that room, the men in that room, they
01:24understand when I say, look, you're on the field.
01:26I'm not.
01:27I've tried to give you the tools, go out there and use them.
01:29And the results sometimes we would have won the game going back to that statement.
01:34Then everyone would be like, oh yeah, you know, the players went out there and got it
01:38done, but we unfortunately lost the game and it's me throwing them under the bus, which
01:42is not true.
01:43And so you were, your, your intent was not to throw Alex Van Pelt under the bus.
01:47Did you speak to him afterwards?
01:49I did speak to him.
01:50I spoke to him this morning because I didn't even think about that.
01:53It was going to be a big story today.
01:55I spoke to him this morning and he's just like, yeah, what are you talking about?
01:59Whatever.
02:00What are you talking about?
02:01Yeah.
02:02So your intent was to say what?
02:04So, so there was no, look, he asked the question.
02:07I didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of trying to explain for the next 10 minutes
02:11after we just lost the game about how that whole process went down.
02:14I just said, you said it to try to end the question.
02:17And look, I shouldn't have done that.
02:19And again, just like I tell the players, I'm still learning how those things work.
02:23I think the great thing that we get to do with you is try to clear up some of these.
02:27No, and I appreciate it.
02:28I appreciate it.
02:29Like how involved are you in the offensive plan?
02:32Look, I'm in there.
02:33I'm in there when they're, when they're putting the game plan in.
02:35I try to spend more time defensively, obviously, because that's my, that's my forte.
02:39You know, and then look, we, we all, at the end of the day, after we get through on Fridays
02:45of ironing everything out, we're all on the same page and we work together well as a staff.
02:50Gerard, to kind of go even a little further, like game day operation, you know,
02:55being seen from kind of how it works on the inside.
02:58Are there times where you'll say, Hey, run a QB sneak here, or let's take a shot.
03:03Or are you more like letting Alex van Pelt putting it in his, in his hands where you might say,
03:10Hey, let's be a little bit aggressive here.
03:11And then he decides what he wants to come up.
03:13Or are you actually giving it some input on maybe specific plays that you might want to see?
03:19Or I give input on where I want the ball to go at times.
03:22I give input on whether we should run it or pass it at times.
03:26But I've said it before, he's the head coach of the offense.
03:28And, you know, at times I go over to the, I'm on the defensive channel talking to those guys,
03:33making corrections, and I have enough faith in the AVP and the rest of the offensive staff
03:36to operate when I'm not on that channel.
03:38So why not a sneak there?
03:40Sorry?
03:41Why not a sneak there?
03:42We just try to do what we thought was, what was best for the team.
03:47We always, early in the season, we talked about the sneaks as well.
03:50And that was when Drake came out of the, out of the, the protocol.
03:54We talked about sneaks and then we, you know, it was off the table.
03:57Look, he's a big, strong kid.
03:58Can he quarterback sneak?
03:59Absolutely.
04:00We just didn't call it at that moment.
04:02But when you say, I think it's important to clarify when you say best for the team,
04:05not necessarily best option to win, but are you trying to protect the quarterback in that,
04:10in that situation?
04:11Best for the team.
04:12And we're always trying to win.
04:13So I don't want to go down that one.
04:14Okay.
04:15Your game plan though, is what everybody's talking about today,
04:18especially because it seemed like Jonathan and Robert were having a conversation
04:21and the camera went to them.
04:22And it seemed like maybe Jonathan said the play calling is horrible.
04:26Do you, when do you have that conversation with them after every game?
04:30And are they talking about actual football plays with you when you sit down
04:33for that conversation or do they stay in their lane of being owners
04:37and you're the coach?
04:38Yeah, I'm not going to, you know, get into what they said.
04:40I didn't see the clip.
04:41I heard about it this morning.
04:43But look, they own the football team.
04:45They're fans of the team and they have supported us 100% on the football side
04:48of not really getting involved in that stuff, which has been good.
04:52How frustrating for you was it to not come away with any points that first drive?
04:57And does that set the tone in any way for the game?
04:59To me, you know, and I know a lot of people, we won the coin toss
05:03and the mindset going into the game is, look, we want to start fast
05:06and try to play with the lead.
05:08So we drive the ball and then we get a penalty, right?
05:11And then we missed the kick.
05:12And so we're back at square one.
05:14It feels like this team gets to the 35-yard line
05:17and all of a sudden, like, gets nervous.
05:19It's like, you know, me at my middle school dance.
05:21You know, like, they're like, oh, what do we do?
05:22Okay, we have a chance here.
05:24Let's, you know, run it and then let's settle for a field goal.
05:27When I feel like it was a great drive to start.
05:30I mean, I thought you guys got the ball.
05:32We're going down.
05:33Drake has always looked good.
05:34Ramond Gray had a good run.
05:35All of that.
05:37What changes in the play call and the just general offensive approach
05:42once you get into the sort of general field goal area of the opposing team?
05:46Yeah, one thing I would say just holistically,
05:48no matter what team you're on, you now add an extra player.
05:51That middle of the field safety that was out there in the field,
05:53he's now in the box.
05:54And so as the field starts to compress, you know,
05:57everything just gets a little bit tighter
05:58and it comes down to details and execution.
06:00The one thing that I noticed and it was very frustrating to me
06:04watching it yesterday, you know, you're left tackling low,
06:09really, really struggles.
06:11Is there any point in time in the game where you're like,
06:14all right, we have to make a change and put somebody out
06:17or you just feel like maybe the guy behind them
06:21is not ready to handle the situation?
06:24Not to live in the past.
06:25Like we've done that before.
06:26You look at the opening game when we made a change,
06:30I think the second or third drive.
06:31So that's always a possibility.
06:34But look, Lowe's out there, he's given us everything he has
06:37and we appreciate him for that.
06:39Keyshawn Booty was asked about the interception
06:42and basically said, you know, it's on me,
06:44but when the ball's thrown a little bit low,
06:46it's hard to handle.
06:48Do you put the blame on Drake for the throw?
06:51Is it more on Booty for, you know, the wobble?
06:54And does it worry you that maybe there's some finger pointing there?
06:58Yeah, I don't think there's finger pointing.
07:00And this isn't the first time we've had this conversation
07:02with Booty and his messaging to everyone.
07:05To me, it's on both of them.
07:07It's on everyone.
07:08It's on all 11 guys that are out there.
07:10The protection, it's on the quarterback making a good throw,
07:12and it's on the receiver making the catch, you know,
07:14as a wide receiver.
07:16Receiver is in the title of your job description.
07:22And so, you know, he's made that catch.
07:24But again, you know, some of the frustration, I'm sure,
07:27is kind of building up.
07:29See, we talk about a lot of the same things every week.
07:32You're probably getting sick of them.
07:34But we've talked a lot about missed tackles.
07:37Duggar, you know, open field, missed tackle.
07:41Is that something that is just – Wiggy talks a lot.
07:44Wiggy and Ty Law actually talk a lot about lack of practice time now
07:48in the NFL, different than when you guys played.
07:51Like, what causes that?
07:54How do you fix it?
07:56It is different, and I agree with Wiggy and Ty Law.
07:58Now, it is different in saying that we're all operating
08:01under the same collectively bargain rules.
08:03And so, to go out there and, you know,
08:06and not be able to tackle at this point in the season,
08:08it's been disappointing, and we just got to get better.
08:10But why has the defense gotten worse as the season's gone on?
08:14I would say, you know, early on, you know, we felt pretty good
08:17about, you know, the guys that we had out there.
08:20You look at the first game and just, you know,
08:23you have Bentley out there.
08:24You know, you got the safeties out there rolling.
08:26You got, you know, obviously, Barmer wasn't there.
08:28But those things have definitely hurt us.
08:30Now, I'm not making an excuse, and the other guys have definitely
08:33stepped up and tried to fill those roles.
08:35But those things definitely take a toll, and we just got to be better.
08:38Did they give you an explanation on what I thought was
08:43a horrible, horrible rough in the passer call?
08:47Like, did they – to make you understand, because I just look like –
08:52it looked like, to me, Jennings kind of just tripped
08:54and went to the side, and I believe it was Keon White just kind of
08:58gave a little shove in the back, but they called it on Jennings.
09:00Did they give you a better explanation?
09:04I don't want to get too far into that.
09:05What I would say is they said that there was forcible contact
09:08to the head and neck area.
09:10You can't challenge those things or anything.
09:12Yeah.
09:13They made the call, and I will say this on the penalties,
09:15on the half glass full, like, I mean, I think that was the least amount
09:18of penalties we've had the last five or six weeks,
09:20so that's definitely a good thing.
09:21I'm trying to pull a positive out of it.
09:23Yeah, no, we appreciate that.
09:24Only four.
09:25Two weeks ago when we talked to you, you said during the bye week
09:27there was a lot of things that you wanted to improve on.
09:29What was the main focus during the bye week,
09:31and do you think that you followed through on that?
09:33For us, it was just about, you know, just going back to fundamentals
09:36and it didn't show up in the game in times that we needed it to show up.
09:41I'm just curious just to confirm on the sneak.
09:44Did you just Google a question?
09:45Did you just Google a question?
09:46No, no, no.
09:47I was just thinking about the first answer.
09:49Here we go.
09:52Do your homework.
09:53I do my homework every day.
09:55I'm cramming.
09:56He's over here Googling questions.
09:58So the reason Mac – I mean, the reason Mac.
10:00I was thinking about Mac.
10:01The reason Drake –
10:02That was Frazzled.
10:03He's Frazzled.
10:04Yeah, he's Frazzled.
10:05I am.
10:06I'm going to walk this back tomorrow.
10:07Ah.
10:08Ah.
10:09Hey.
10:10All right.
10:11Appreciate it.
10:12Okay.
10:13All right.
10:14So the reason Drake didn't sneak is because of the concussion issue.
10:17No, it's not.
10:18No, it's not.
10:19That was a conversation that we had in the past.
10:21So he's clear and all set.
10:22He could have stopped.
10:23Yeah, he's out of the concussion protocol.
10:25He can quarterback sneak.
10:26And, again, look, it's on me.
10:29I like that, though.
10:30I like that.
10:31You like that.
10:32I'll get you off air.
10:33So is there no issue?
10:35Because I think a lot of people, you know, speculate.
10:38Everything we do is speculation here because we're not in here.
10:41We're not behind the scenes.
10:44Is there no issue between you and Alex Van Pelt when it comes to philosophy
10:51and where you see the offense, whether it's being conservative,
10:57aggressive, whatever it is?
10:59Are you guys on the same page?
11:00100% on the same page.
11:02And I back Alex 100%.
11:04Even more so, though, in that same breath.
11:06Do you feel like what you were promised when you took this coaching job
11:11has come through?
11:13Like, were you told that you were going to go by the crafts, I guess?
11:17Because we talk about that all the time.
11:18Were you told that you had the reins to do whatever you want,
11:21that they were going to spend a ton of money,
11:23that you were going to pick the staff around you,
11:25and maybe that didn't happen?
11:27Again, it's all speculation for us.
11:29But since you're sitting here.
11:30Yeah, I'm not going to get into all that.
11:33As long as you're here.
11:34This is the staff I want.
11:36This is the staff that we need.
11:37And, look, we've just got to get better.
11:39But you're happy with how this season, even though maybe the wins and losses.
11:42No, I'm not.
11:43I'm not happy with it.
11:44It's hard to say I'm happy with the season when we're sitting here with this record.
11:47Happy with how you've been treated as the head coach?
11:50By who?
11:51By the organization.
11:52The organization has been fantastic.
11:54Okay, good.
11:55Speaking of the staff, before we – I don't want to get off this topic.
11:58Obviously, Brian works for you.
12:01He's in your defensive backfield, safeties coach.
12:04Have you spoken to him?
12:05Is he going to go join his dad at North Carolina?
12:07Has that come up at all?
12:08No, we haven't talked about that at all.
12:09And he's been 100% on the opponent, which was Arizona, this past week.
12:14Knowing Bill as well as you do, were you surprised that that's where he's going?
12:18Look, I know he's a great coach, and he needs to be coached, and I'm happy for him.
12:22Yeah.
12:23He looks good in Carolina blue.
12:26Carolina blue is nice.
12:27Yeah, it's a good color.
12:28He'll have more Jordans than me now.
12:31How many do you have?
12:33I don't count.
12:34Oh, you don't count.
12:35I don't have a lot like that.
12:36I actually give them away to people.
12:39Last one for me, 0-for-6 when it came to converting on third down.
12:44Boomer brought up that package.
12:46You've had a chance to look at film.
12:48What's the issue there yesterday?
12:51Yeah, I would say at least two of those were situations where we're just trying
12:54to get back into field goal range, so situational third downs.
12:58But again, we just got to get open and make the plays.
13:01Jerrod, one thing that you talked about, and I think we talked about this with
13:09– who do we interview on Friday?
13:11Jelani.
13:12Jelani.
13:13Jelani.
13:14Talk to a lot of people.
13:15Rough weekend.
13:17Jerrod, you give me a hard time.
13:19Look at this guy.
13:20I'm horrible with names, Jerrod.
13:22Are you?
13:23I'm going to keep it a buck.
13:24You can't do that with names.
13:25You're on TV and on radio.
13:27He's really bad with names.
13:28He's really bad.
13:29He calls Stacey champ.
13:30Yeah, that's why I'm like, what's up, buddy?
13:32What's up, my guy?
13:33Yeah, yeah, that's me.
13:34What's up, my guy?
13:35Yeah, that's me all day long.
13:36But we talked with Jelani on Friday and talked about creating turnovers.
13:42How do you work on that in practice to like maybe – because you guys have been
13:48struggling all year there.
13:50What can you do differently maybe in practice in the games?
13:53I know it's got to be difficult for guys to be able to try to create a turnover
13:57and tackle at the same time.
13:59Is there something that maybe you guys feel like you could do a little bit better?
14:02Yeah, that second guy that comes in always has an opportunity to strip
14:05at the football.
14:06I would say I've always said this is that turnovers come in bunches.
14:09Sacks come in bunches.
14:10And we just haven't been able to really get that one to get everything else
14:13flowing.
14:14So hopefully it's this week.
14:15All right.
14:16Well, we'll let you get back to it.
14:18Oh, what?
14:19Oh, what, Shyam?
14:21Oh, Shyam says I didn't ask the Hellman's mail question of the week.
14:25Yeah, we got to get this guy out of here.
14:27Do you think you can purchase Hellman's at your local Walmart or grocery store
14:30to add extra deliciousness and creamy flavor to your game day dishes this
14:35football season?
14:37Anybody?
14:38I have a question.
14:39What do you think about just playing on Christmas Day?
14:41The NFL's just started it.
14:42Do you like it?
14:43Do you think they should, you know?
14:44What are your thoughts on Christmas Day NFL football?
14:47I think it's good for the league.
14:48I think it's good, you know?
14:50And then you get a couple extra days on the back end on that.
14:53Look, I love just – I'm a fan of football first and foremost.
14:56I love to hear about football on Christmas.
14:58All right.
14:59Well, Merry Christmas.
15:00Merry Christmas.
15:01I won't see you before that.
15:02I think maybe these guys will Monday.
15:04Where are you going?
15:05I'm going to take a couple days off.
15:07I know it's normally – normally it's no days off.
15:09I know that.
15:10But we'll take a couple days off.
15:13So, all right.
15:14That's Gerard Mayo.
15:15A Patriots Monday.
15:16We will be right back from –
15:18Oh, man.
15:20Jeez.
15:21Hey, you two.
15:22You two.
15:23You guys.
15:24What happened yesterday?
15:26What has happened?
15:27It's not a billion things.
15:29You have all your notes there.
15:31He has his own egg cart.
15:32I'm answering questions that just pop up.
15:34You got a whole script.
15:35My answer is the frustration from my team losing.
15:38The conversation –