Patriots HC Jerod Mayo joins! How does Mayo think the team played against Buffalo? Why aren't there many designed Maye run plays?
What does Mayo make of the reports of him returning next season? Are the returning/non-returning rumors a distraction?
What does Mayo make of the reports of him returning next season? Are the returning/non-returning rumors a distraction?
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00:00Loss yesterday, but not a terrible one.
00:03We treat it like a moral victory Monday, I'm sure you don't.
00:06But how is your overall feeling with how the guys played?
00:09You know, having an opportunity to go back and watch the film,
00:12I thought the guys really came out and started fast, you know, in a hostile environment.
00:16That's not an easy place to play offensively and defensively.
00:19And that first quarter is one of the best quarters we've had all year.
00:22Unfortunately, we weren't able to carry that over into the second half,
00:25but I thought the guys played hard.
00:27And I mean, you hit it on the head.
00:28There are no moral victories, but we'll learn from this
00:31and correct it and try to get better going forward.
00:33A big question that we had last week, we talked about it with you last Monday,
00:37and then I know AVP was asked about it and he touched on it,
00:40but design run plays for Drake and the lack thereof.
00:44He basically, I don't want to quote him incorrectly,
00:47but said that the reason in which maybe there aren't many or aren't at all
00:51is that they don't want to put Drake in a situation
00:53where he could get injured at the end of the season.
00:55That was a difference yesterday that we saw.
00:57There were some design run plays for him.
00:59What was the change?
01:00Yeah, to me, we're trying to win a football game.
01:02To us, we all are trying to win a football game, coaches and players included.
01:06And we're always going to do what's best for the team.
01:08And that was what was best for the team yesterday.
01:11And he used his legs and made a couple of plays.
01:13Gerrard, you talked about the tale of two halves.
01:16First half, offensively, you were able to move the ball well.
01:19What do you think was the biggest issue in the second half?
01:21I know, obviously, turnovers were a huge part of losing that football game.
01:28But what do you think were the biggest issues
01:30for you not being able to sustain that success in the second half,
01:35especially when it came to offense and maybe moving the football?
01:37When we talk about complementary football, that's all three phases.
01:41And, you know, our best defense in the first quarter
01:43was our offense going out there, having extended drives.
01:46Like that was against a team like this.
01:48And anytime you get an MVP caliber type of player
01:50and Josh Allen on the sideline for that, you know, that amount of time,
01:53it's good for us.
01:55You know, I'm saying that, you know, this game came down to two things.
01:58It came down to us turning the ball over.
01:59It came down to us not being able to stop the run.
02:02I mean, that's if you boil everything down, decisions made, do this, do that.
02:07It was those two things that really hurt us, hurt us the most.
02:10Can you fix those two things for Saturday afternoon?
02:14Are those, were they fixable moments?
02:16Or is it a product of just the buildup and a football play?
02:21They're definitely fixable.
02:23And, you know, what this game comes down to is just consistency.
02:27You know, consecutive six second plays, play after play after play after play,
02:31being consistent and all 11 guys being on the same page.
02:34So to answer your question, yes.
02:36Jelani Tavai talked to us on Friday and said that he felt like
02:39it was a good week of practice, felt like the defense was clicking.
02:42They knew what they needed to do going into this one.
02:44Started off strong, kind of fell off in the second half.
02:47What do you think it is about that second half of games
02:49where your guys maybe aren't fully executing?
02:53Well, you know, I guess it depends on what game you watch
02:56as far as second half play is concerned.
02:59You know, for me, the players, they go out there every single play
03:06and try to do what they think is right.
03:07And so I have no gripe against that.
03:09I would just say, just on a going back to consistency,
03:13we just have to, in all three phases, go out there and do and run the plays.
03:18I mean, that's what it comes down to.
03:19I have to coach better and we just have to get in that win column.
03:23I think, you know, winning heals all.
03:25Gerrard, this game is all about confidence.
03:27Your team was able to do something that not many teams can say that they do,
03:32which hold the Buffalo Bills to under 30.
03:34Basically frustrated Josh Allen through the majority of the game,
03:39limit him and what he was able to do.
03:42How can you, even though it's a loss, how can you take some of that,
03:49especially defensively and say, okay, we were able to do this
03:53against a really good offense, I was going to work on the run,
03:56but to build off of some of that confidence,
03:59confidence kind of moving forward in these last two games?
04:02Yeah, it's huge.
04:03You know, I mean, that's what being a professional is all about.
04:06It's about taking the good out of the last game.
04:07And this is why we do those self-scouts.
04:09Take the good out of the last game and move forward.
04:11And I was so proud of the way those guys did contain,
04:14going back to your question, they did a great job,
04:16for the most part, keeping Josh Allen in the pocket.
04:19Now, did he get outside?
04:20Absolutely, at times.
04:21I thought the guys in the back end covered well.
04:25But we have to carry that over.
04:26We have a huge challenge in front of us here on Saturday.
04:29What does the week look like?
04:31Does it change with the holiday, with the Saturday afternoon?
04:34I was asking Wiggy earlier, just kind of what the Sunday
04:37to Saturday schedule, days off.
04:39And then getting ready for the charters.
04:42Yeah, I mean, look, and I would say it's also a Saturday game,
04:44which is always tough.
04:45It was a Sunday game.
04:47I mean, it's a little bit different.
04:48But look, we'll put extra work in today.
04:51We'll put extra work in tomorrow.
04:52The guys will have a chance to spend time with their families on Wednesday.
04:55And then really just continue to make up that time on Thursday and Friday.
04:59And the guys understand that.
05:00And the captains, they were all for it.
05:02And that's what we're going to do.
05:03We've been talking about the different reports that have been coming out,
05:06whether it's, you know, the Crafts have told you that you are good to go
05:10for next season.
05:11I know that you answered that question with the media last week saying,
05:14you know, I don't know where these reports are coming out from.
05:17Then Diana Rossini said, you know, three games left of the season.
05:20The Crafts want to see close games, but they feel like he is the future.
05:25Is that a distraction for your team?
05:27Are you proud of how they've handled it?
05:29And it must be annoying for you that that is a narrative
05:33that your guys have to answer to.
05:35I mean, look, it's not, uh, I mean, you said, you said it and I agree with you.
05:39It's just annoying that you said it about me.
05:41No, we're not going back down that road.
05:51Are we all clear?
05:53Are we all clear?
05:54Ultimately, every decision in football, it ends, it starts and ends with me.
06:00Going back to what your question was, what now?
06:03Because now you threw me off my game.
06:05I just feel like it must be annoying.
06:07Oh, sorry, sorry.
06:08The guys, the guys, they handle it the way they handle it.
06:10I never tell them what to say.
06:11And to me, it's about, you know, the consistency and the messaging
06:14within the building.
06:15And that's what it's all about.
06:16I can't control, you know, what's being reported.
06:19I can't control.
06:20I can't control.
06:21You know, there are things I just can't control, but what I can't control
06:23is my attitude and the way I approach every single week, the way I approach
06:26all the players, you know, trying to get them better.
06:29Well, because Drake May, when he was asked about it after the game,
06:32he said, basically, I think the reports are BS.
06:34And, you know, we support Gerrard, we support AVP.
06:38But the look on his face, the way he was grabbing the back of his neck,
06:41it's like, when are we going to stop this narrative over and over again,
06:44week after week?
06:45Do you wish that maybe the Crafts would come out and say, hey,
06:48we've had the discussion, Gerrard's good to go next year?
06:51Again, like, I don't know what that would do.
06:54It doesn't matter.
06:55Like, to me- Shut us up.
06:56No, I mean, look, you guys are going to, you got to fill up the airways
06:59somehow, you know what I mean?
07:00So it's fine.
07:01Like, for me and for the team, like, we're pushing forward
07:04and we're getting ready for the Chargers.
07:05You know, look, we just have to continue to get better.
07:07It's about the process and that's what we're doing.
07:09Obviously, no one's excited, fans, coaches, players, anyone.
07:13No one's excited about our record.
07:16But what we have to do is just go back to the drawing board
07:19every single week and continue to get better on a down after down basis,
07:23day after day basis.
07:24Well, one of the things that, you know, you kind of look at is when you,
07:28just like you said, you're able to self-scout and kind of self-evaluate
07:31with these next two games, I feel like you guys put yourself
07:36in a position where, you know, you went into Buffalo
07:39and it was a game you could have won.
07:40What do you have to do, especially starting with the Chargers?
07:44Like, what do you have to do as a team to say,
07:47okay, we can win these games and we can play with these teams
07:51moving forward, especially coming up against the Chargers on Saturday?
07:55It's about putting two halves of football together.
07:57I mean, look, we go back and how many one-score games
08:00that we had throughout the season and just weren't able to finish?
08:02It's about putting four quarters of good complimentary football together.
08:06And that's what we plan to do on Saturday.
08:07Drew, I got a question.
08:09Yes.
08:10Oh!
08:11Way to step it up.
08:13I love it.
08:14Good.
08:15I'm just wondering, like, how the seasons went.
08:16Like, what is your thought process going into the next season?
08:19And like, what are you thinking towards, what are you thinking now?
08:22Like, I know you got the Chargers coming up Saturday,
08:24but what are you thinking after the season and whatnot
08:26during the off-season?
08:27Yeah, I would say, you know, we try.
08:29That's a good question, by the way.
08:31Training them up.
08:31Training them up.
08:32Proud dad, like, proud dad.
08:33Yes, yes.
08:35I'm excited.
08:35Proud dad moment.
08:38Look, I try to stay as present as possible with the reality.
08:41But the reality is you always have to look out the front windshield
08:44when you're trying to build a team.
08:46You know, for me, you know, after we get through the season,
08:49there are a lot of things, a lot of checklists
08:51that you have to go through.
08:53You know, what players you want to keep around,
08:55what coaches you want to keep around here,
08:57how the process of the season, like, what I did right,
09:01what I did wrong, I have to put a mirror in front of my face.
09:03And it starts with me, you know, putting a mirror in front of my face
09:06and really just going through the things
09:09that I have to get better at going forward.
09:11And look, everything that we've done this year,
09:13you know, from a process standpoint,
09:15I mean, some of it's been good, some of it's been bad.
09:17But that is part of being, you know, in your first year.
09:21Whether your first year and whatever.
09:23First year, you want to be a journalist.
09:25Like, it's a learning experience.
09:26And you, but the most important thing is to be able to reflect
09:30and be honest with yourself, you know,
09:31when you didn't do things the right way
09:33or when you did it the wrong way.
09:35I have a question about the kickoffs.
09:37And there was, the kids were debating it on the couch
09:40last night watching the game.
09:41Has it taken out some of the strategy on special teams?
09:46And do you like the new kickoffs?
09:48You know, for me, you know, I'm just a huge fan
09:51of trying to kick it out the back of the end zone.
09:53What I will say is as the weather starts to change,
09:56even though you want to kick it out the back of the end zone,
09:59as it gets cold, the ball does not carry as far.
10:01And so I think as we go through this season
10:03and the cold weather games continue to pop up,
10:06you're going to see a lot more returns coming up here soon.
10:08Got it.
10:09When it comes to Romandre, another game
10:10where he looked great in the beginning,
10:12but, you know, holding onto the football,
10:13what's been the issue there, you think?
10:16Yeah, I mean, everyone is different.
10:18Every one of those fumbles has really been different,
10:20but it's a mentality.
10:21And we continue to reiterate to the whole team,
10:24whoever has the ball, even the defensive players,
10:26if they get an interception or something like that,
10:28you know, when you carry the ball,
10:29you're carrying the fortunes of the rest of the team.
10:33And we just have to, you know, we had to get better.
10:35And I would say, look, Romandre understands that
10:37more than anyone else.
10:38He understands that he has to protect the football.
10:41And so, you know, we just got to get better in practice
10:43and just show up in the game.
10:45Same thing with penalties.
10:46All the penalties are different.
10:47You know, yesterday, Hunter Henry has another holding penalty.
10:50What do you see there?
10:51Yeah, I don't really put that holding penalty.
10:54You know, on Hunter, per se, I think Drake,
10:56as he watches the film, he would see that
10:58if he just went downhill, it wouldn't be a holding.
10:59That same position that Hunter was in
11:02is this exact same position on stretch run plays
11:05that offensive tackles are in.
11:07And when, you know, they think the running back
11:09is going to cut back, but he continues.
11:11Yeah, you probably have the holding penalties.
11:12He continues to go outside and now you're like,
11:15oh, shoot, missed that slight tug.
11:17I don't know what they call it.
11:18Tell him, no, no, no, go inside.
11:20That's right.
11:22But the one, when you look at this game,
11:26you look at like kind of where your team is
11:29and the thing that, you know, maybe you take away
11:33as a positive thing is when you have your guys,
11:35whether it's Drake May, whether it's Hunter Henry,
11:39there's been a couple of guys on defense
11:41talking about the respect that they have
11:45for you as a coach and they love you as a coach.
11:48And like you said, there's always,
11:49it's going to be very difficult
11:51for somebody in their first year
11:53because there's going to be the ups and downs.
11:54But what does it mean when your players
11:57come out publicly?
11:59Not necessarily that they have to defend you,
12:02but just to know like that's the sediment
12:05in the locker room is that your players really,
12:09you know, they got your back.
12:11I mean, look, I appreciate it.
12:13And I've said this before,
12:14like this game is all about relationships.
12:16And again, you know, as we continue to build,
12:19like, you know, we're going to do it together.
12:21You know, you think about it,
12:22even with the quarterback,
12:24like we're growing up together.
12:25This is his rookie year and not fully anticipate us,
12:29you know, getting better as a team going forward.
12:31There was a moment in the game.
12:33I don't know if you'll tell me,
12:34but you and Drake were having a conversation.
12:36It looked like a growing or teaching moment in the game.
12:40Is there anything that you can kind of elaborate on
12:43and maybe give us a little insight
12:45onto what you guys might've been talking about?
12:47Um, you know, the plan to kind of point of talk
12:51about it came off to the sidelines.
12:52You kind of were covering him.
12:53I'll look like you have it.
12:54We got lip readers out there.
12:56Yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:58So we got it.
12:58So I covered my mouth
12:59and then you asked me to talk about it here.
13:01So that really just takes away the entire reason.
13:04I don't know.
13:04I've been covering my mouth.
13:05No, maybe it was just like, I'm not answering.
13:09You cover your mouth for a reason.
13:10I thought you didn't want the team to know,
13:12but now the game's over.
13:14Where's the other team?
13:15You think they can lip read from across?
13:17So who's lip reading?
13:20You guys.
13:20Oh, ain't no way we can lip read.
13:22I mean, we did it with Jonathan.
13:23I couldn't.
13:24Let's go. Next question.
13:26I want to go back to you.
13:27You talked about reflection,
13:29but it's very hard to reflect in the middle of season
13:33when every day you're trying to get ready to the next.
13:35So is there, have you had an opportunity?
13:38And how do you, how do you do that?
13:40I guess in season,
13:43both reflecting on how to get better for yourself,
13:45but really the main focus,
13:46your job is to make everybody else better around you.
13:49Yeah, I would say, you know, with having a late bye week,
13:51that gave me an opportunity to really reflect.
13:54And in saying that, you know, a few weeks later now,
13:56we had a very late bye week.
13:58You know, a few weeks later,
13:59I'll go back through it and get better
14:02and evaluate all those things.
14:03Playing a tough team like Buffalo twice
14:05in such a short period of time,
14:06obviously both teams get to look at that film
14:08and fix things that maybe went wrong.
14:11What do you feel like the advantage is
14:13playing a team twice in such a short period of time
14:15at the end of the season?
14:16Yeah, to me, it just kind of neutralizes everything.
14:19Like you just said, they get to see things
14:21and we get to see things
14:22and that game's going to come down.
14:24Who can adjust faster?
14:25I mean, that's what it's going to come down to.
14:27All right, well, it's time now
14:28for the Hellman's Mayo question of the week.
14:30You can purchase Hellman's at your local Walmart
14:32or grocery store to add extra deliciousness
14:34and creamy flavor to your game day dishes
14:36this football season.
14:37Wiggy?
14:38Gerard, was there a conscious effort
14:41in the game yesterday from a defensive scheme
14:44where you were more focused
14:46on keeping Josh Allen in the pocket
14:49rather than like really attacking the pass rush?
14:52Because I almost felt like, you know,
14:54you kind of saw that from some of the defensive linemen.
14:57Yeah, 100%.
14:58You know, this is one of the most dangerous players
15:00when he's a yard away from the sideline.
15:02Like this guy can make all the throws
15:04across the field, down the field.
15:05And so keeping them in the pocket,
15:07that was definitely the goal.
15:08And I thought overall they did a good job doing that.
15:11Any Christmas traditions
15:12as we get closer to Wednesday?
15:15For the Mayo family?
15:16Open presents.
15:17The kids just love opening presents.
15:19And then, you know, as a dad,
15:20you start to have to build a bunch of things.
15:23And now that my kids are getting older though,
15:24it's about the V-bucks.
15:25It's about clothes.
15:27It's about like some of that stuff.
15:28It's more about the money.
15:29Yeah, that's right.
15:30Right, it's all about the money.
15:31What's Sierra leaving in the stocking?
15:33How much is in the stocking?
15:34Here's a hundred bucks in the stocking.
15:36Are you ham, turkey, tenderloin?
15:38I'm a turkey guy.
15:41I mean, not just like a basic turkey though,
15:43like a Cajun turkey or a fried turkey.
15:47Everything tastes better fried.
15:48Yeah.
15:48White meat or dark meat?
15:53I'm gonna go with the dark.
15:58All right.
15:59Well, thanks for everything this season so far.
16:02I hope you have a Merry Christmas.
16:04Wiggy's going to be in now.
16:05Hey, don't ask anybody else that question.
16:06I like it.
16:12I like it nice and juicy.
16:13I'm a ham guy, so.
16:14You don't like dark meat though.
16:15I mean, no, I don't mind it, but I'm a ham guy.
16:17I rather prefer ham over...
16:19Ham's gross.
16:20Yeah, a nice honey-baked ham.
16:23All right, well, Merry Christmas.
16:25You'll be in Monday, next Monday before New Year's Eve?
16:28I'm not sure.
16:29You guys tell me.
16:29Well, I don't know.
16:30Wiggy's here.
16:31Yeah, I mean, I don't know.
16:31I'll be here.
16:32All right, awesome.