HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO

Press Conference
Monday, September 2, 2024

JM: Good afternoon. Before I get started, we have our servicemen and women outside; they have a lacrosse game. I just went out there and kind of just offered my appreciation for their sacrifice. I know a lot of times, it's easy to say, 'Thank you for your service,' but there's a lot of sacrifice that those guys give up for the safety of our country, and it's noticeable when you go out there. So, I definitely wanted to make sure that was known. Just kind of to move forward, we're excited to get to this point in the season when now, we're really game planning for a team. This is an exciting time for me personally, and I think for the players that are in that room. Before we get into – I'm sure there are questions about the quarterback and questions about Cincinnati – hopefully, more questions about Cincinnati. I just wanted to wrap up one thing with our captains. So, this morning, we had a vote. I do think it's very important that captains are not selected by the coaches but selected by their peers. The captains for this year's team – which this year they'll have their Cs; I do think it's important to have the 'C' on the jerseys. That's one difference that I think is important. But [David] Andrews, [Ja'Whaun] Bentley, [Jacoby Brissett, Jabrill] Peppers, Joe Cardona, and Deatrich Wise [Jr.]. Those are our captains for this year. Look, they embody everything that we preach about each and every day, not only on the football field, but also off the football field. I'm very excited to have these guys, and I know they're excited as well to lead this football team.

Q: You said one of the differences is wearing the C. Why is that important to you?

JM: Yeah, I was a captain seven out of eight years, which once again, whatever happens inside the building, that's always the most important thing. But I do think it's like a badge of honor. It's a badge of honor, and I think when guys do the right thing, they should be recognized for those things. It's something as small as having the captain's patch, I think it's important for those guys.

Q: Jerod, Jacoby [Brissett] not being voted a captain, do you think that –

JM: Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. And Brissett, sorry. Good catch, good catch. So, just hit delete on those texts and those tweets. Thank you, I appreciate you bringing that up. That was going to be a fire, but hey, thank you, thank you. I definitely do appreciate that. Alright, I'm good on my opening statement; you guys fire away.

Q: Just a thought on opening up the season. How excited are you and the job ahead in Cincinnati?

JM: I'm very excited. Look, once again, every day is a learning experience for me. We're excited to go through this week and really prepare with the guys that are going to be out there on the field. Look, Cincinnati, they offer many challenges offensively and defensively that we're going to have to have answers for. I think the guys are ready to go. Today is a bonus day for us. So, just like I spoke about last week, we really were still focused those last two days of practice on getting NEP [New England Patriots] better. What I will say is that's still the message going forward, while at the same time sprinkling in a few things here and there that Cincinnati offers. What I would say is, look, they're a very versatile team. Obviously, they have a bunch of great players on that team, and we've just got to be able to go out there and compete on each and every down.

Q: Maybe just rewinding to last Thursday, you showed us the courtesy to come out as you said you would. Thank you for doing that.

JM: Yeah, no problem.

Q: We didn't have as much time for follow up questions because you had meetings that day, but just how did you come to the decision to go with Jacoby?

JM: Yeah, I mean, we had our process of talking to the coaches, the coordinators, Eliot [Wolf] as well. That was part of the process. But what I would say is ultimately, it was my decision to put who I think gives us the best chance to win football games. Hopefully, you guys got it last week: we're 100% behind Jacoby. He can't think about what's in the rear-view mirror. He has to be ready to drive this thing forward. I made sure that he understood that he has the full support of not only his teammates, but also the organization for him to go out there and perform at the level that we know he can.

Q: Coach, was there ever any consideration to starting Drake Maye Week 1, or has the plan always been to try to ease him along?

JM: No, we kept saying, look, competition, competition. That is something that I truly believe in. It was a real competition. It honestly came down to a few days where that separation started to happen. Now, the things that kind of went into that pot as far as how we came out with this conclusion, I mean, there were many things that were weighted differently. Once again, I just feel like me personally, as the head coach here, that Jacoby gives us our best chance.

Q: What do you think needs to change between now and Drake's first start, whenever that is, for you to feel like it's time to play him?

JM: For me, we talk about competition in training camp, but quite frankly, it's competition each and every week. We'll see how it goes. But once again, I don't want Jacoby to feel like someone's nipping at his heels. He'll get the majority of the reps while at the same time continuing to develop Drake in other ways. Now, a lot of you guys, I guess the next question would be, 'How do you do that?' He will still participate in some of the team drills for the upcoming team. But I also think the show team reps are very important. They've always been important. Even when I was a rookie – I also was a top-10 pick, but even as a rookie, I was on those show teams. I think that's another place where you can develop, as well as the other tools that we've talked about here over the summer.

Q: How much of a misconception is it that he was brought in here – Jacoby – to be kind of a placeholder, a mentor or whatever, as opposed to what he brings to the team as a starting quarterback?

JM: He is a mentor, I would say, which is reflected in the captain's voting. I think he's a mentor to the entire offensive side of the ball. He's familiar with the offense. At the same time, he knew he was in a competition and still remained steady, which is something you definitely appreciate from your quarterback position.

Q: Two questions about the health of the offensive line. It's not the health, it's kind of the state of the offensive line. How is Vederian Lowe doing? We saw Nick Leverett out there late last week at guard. He was doing a lot of reps at center. Is that kind of a thing you might be looking at moving forward?

JM: Yeah, so coming out of training camp, we had a tough training camp. There are definitely things that popped up. We'll see if those guys are ready to play. But right now, we just have to move forward. We talked about that next man up mentality. We don't know if he'll be at the game or not. He may wake up tomorrow – talking about Lowe – feeling great. I mean, I just don't know. But going back to what we've done the entire training camp as far as moving people around, we were trying to find our best five while at the same time building depth through the guys that we have on the team. So, that's the difficult part of it. But as we continue through the week, and this is why I'm going to meet with you guys on Friday –To talk a little bit more like who's ready, who's not ready, and I'll try to be as transparent as I can with you guys. I'm not a guy – I mean, I'm not going to get into trying to be cryptic or anything like that. I'll just let you guys know the truth and try to be as transparent as possible.

Q: Going back to the Drake show team, taking some team reps. How about – I've heard of quarterbacks running a meeting. Have you talked to Alex [Van Pelt], Ben [McAdoo] or T.C. [McCartney] about letting Drake install the game plan the night before a game or something like that?

JM: Yeah, so I mean, we've done that. We use that tool, I think it's called the Feynman technique. I think that's what it's called. But I do believe if you can teach it, you have a true understanding of the game plan. When I first got into coaching, I was teaching my son Cover-2 – which I will say, as a proud father right now, he had 6 tackles, 2 for a loss this past weekend, blocked a field goal without jumping, and I thought that was pretty cool. But what I will say is, look, he'll have certain projects and things like that that he'll be responsible for. In saying that, look, he'll still go through just a normal game week each and every week, and that's how it's going to be as of today.

Q: Jerod, it's officially a game week now. Where do you feel like you are on your own personal learning curve, whether it be sharing a big decision like your quarterback or literally game planning as a coach for the first time? Where are you?

JM: It's a huge week, and what I will say is I'm still learning as well. As we go through this week, there'll be a lot of things that I would probably want to do a different way. I'm always open to feedback, whether it's feedback from the coaches or the players. We'll see how it goes. We'll see how it goes. I feel pretty comfortable, especially on the defensive side of the ball and the game planning element. But at the same time, having conversations with AVP [Alex Van Pelt] and all of our offensive line coaches and being in those meetings, I think my vantage point, coming from a defensive side, will also help those guys offensively. But to answer your question, we'll just have to see how it goes. The results are the results, and it comes down to wins and losses. We're going to try to win every game, and I'm going to try to do everything I can to get us to that point.

Q: Are you comfortable with how the competition at quarterback, how you handled it?

JM: I am; I am, 100%. No regrets in that order. I will say, I think I was explicit about it in speaking to you guys how I thought about the process. There was a lot of push: 'You've got to name a quarterback; you've got to name a quarterback.' But I did think it was important to talk to the team about the decision. I thought it was important to talk to those two quarterbacks individually and then both combined. Before I came out here and told you guys, I just thought that was the right thing to do for the New England Patriots.

Q: Coach, Jalen Reagor has mentioned how working on the scout team has given him opportunities to emulate really good receivers. For Drake Maye, is part of the benefits that you mentioned on the show team, being able to learn from some of the really good quarterbacks you guys are facing? Or are you really focused on making sure he does what he has to do as a Patriots quarterback?

JM: There's definitely a combination. I think you bring up a good point. Anytime you can go out there and emulate a quarterback like Joe Burrow, I think it's very important. To play at that level, we hope to have a quarterback that can do that on a week after week basis. I do think those reps are important. In saying that, we do have certain plays that are like 'this is how NEP [New England Patriots] does it.' And we don't want to get that lost in translation with whoever's running the scout team offense.

Q: Jerod, Javon Baker went on Instagram Live yesterday after getting a traffic ticket, some sort of angry rant. He introduced himself on Instagram Live after getting drafted. What's the team's official stance on these Instagram Lives?

JM: Everything that you just stated in no way represents what the organization is about, in no way represents what we are about as a team, or how Javon needs to go out there and represent himself. We've handled it internally. We had a great conversation. I think it's a combination of immaturity and realizing the grand scheme, that we're on a big stage here and you can't do those things. As far as our relationship with law enforcement, I think it's outstanding. We'll continue to strengthen that relationship going forward.

Q: Can you talk about handling it internally, just to clarify? Has that resulted in any missing practice, game, any kind of penalty?

JM: Not for this. There is a penalty, but not to the level of missing the game. We didn't see it that way.

Q: Jerod, you came out last week and you say Drake outplayed Jacoby. Your fans heard that, your locker room heard it, Jacoby heard it. You named Jacoby your starter. How do you rectify that?

JM: I don't think I have to rectify that with the guys in the locker room, per se. I would say it goes back to the full body of work. I would say at the end of training camp, I think anyone could see that Drake was playing at a very high level. Now, in saying that, we had to take everything into consideration, including the spring and the beginning part of training camp. So hopefully that kind of clears it up for you.

Q: You have put together your roster, including your practice squad. There's no quarterback on your practice squad. There's no veteran quarterback on your practice squad. In essence, what you're saying is that if Jacoby suffers a serious injury in week one, Drake is ready to start week two. Is that what you're saying with your roster, and why not just start him [Drake Maye] week one if that's the case?

JM: For me, any rookie quarterback or rookie in general, it's tough to come into this league and play at a high level. When we talk about developing a guy like Drake, that is a continuous process. If Jacoby was to get injured in the first week, 1,000%, Drake would be the next guy as the No. 2 quarterback on our roster.

Q: So, he's ready to start Week 2 if need be in that scenario?

JM: Well, he has no other choice. He's our second-string quarterback.

Q: Jerod, you mentioned Alex Van Pelt, you said, 'head coach of the offense.' He hasn't called plays in a long time, even though he had the title of offensive coordinator in Cleveland. Do you give him sort of like a, 'This is how I want us to play?' Or, do you let him just have free reign?

JM: Yeah, no, that's a great question. It's not free reign at all. Ultimately, I'm responsible for the offense, defense and special teams. He understands that. So, when I say the head coach, I always talk about taking – let's rewind a little bit with the players. I tell the players all the time, let's take accountability of your career. It's the same thing with your coordinators. Like, this is your side of the ball. Let's take accountability for everything. Have an opinion on everything, which he has. As the head coach, I feel like I always have a trump card if need be. Now, I do lean on the coaches. That's why you continue to see me bouncing around practice, talking about fundamentals because I do think those are very important. But at the same time, I have to have faith that I have the right guys in the building. So, hopefully that kind of clears it up for you.

Q: Have you communicated with your coordinators? Have you sat down with them and say, 'After seeing all of training camp, preseason, this is what I see. This is how we're going to win games. This is how I want to play.' What can you sort of share about that?

JM: Yeah, 100%. I think as far as the game plan element, every single week, we'll talk about those things. We meet with the coordinators three, four times a week. So, we're on the same page on, 'This is what we want to be.' We always talk about – look, if we don't create our identity, then someone else will create it for us. So, we have those conversations all the time. Like I said earlier, as the head coach of this football team, I have to have a hand in all those things.

Q: Jerod, with this coaching staff on the opposite side of the ball, they have a lot of experience facing Cincinnati from Cleveland. How helpful is that, that they've been in the same division with those guys?

JM: Yeah, it's very helpful. In saying that, look, you've got to remember that players win games and coaches lose them. So, we're going to do our due diligence as a coaching staff to make sure we put our guys in the right position to win each and every game.