PATRIOTS HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO
PRESS CONFERENCE
September 20, 2024
Q: After evaluating the tape and getting together with the coaches, what is the plan for quarterback going forward?
JM: Jacoby [Brissett] is our quarterback until I say he's not the quarterback. I thought last night he showed a lot of toughness, a lot of grit. On protection breakdowns, he tried to do what we asked him to do. I would say as a team, as a coaching staff, we've just got to be better.
Q: Jerod, you were pretty critical of the offensive line last night. Is there anything you can do internally to correct the problems, or is this something that you need to start looking outside the organization to help find some fixes?
JM: No, I believe we can correct the problems internally. It comes down to details, and we were not sharp on our details as a unit. That's what the offensive line is. It's not just one person. It's a unit. Being able to see the picture out of the same set of goggles, we just didn't do that last night. I do think it's correctable internally.
Q: Hey Jerod. Just looking at the tape from last night, what did you see in terms of the main issues with pass protection and being able to recognize some of the stuff they were doing?
JM: We had some young guys out there that showed a few different looks that maybe caused some confusion, but the communication as a whole has to be better. I still have faith in those guys to get the job done. We've got to be very intentional about the way we approach the game and the way we adjust in-game.
Q: Jerod, I'm curious if you guys would consider altering the practice plan for the quarterback reps? Is there any chance you might want to give Drake [Maye] a little bit more moving forward?
JM: Right now, I would say it's still status quo. I said it earlier. Jacoby's still our starting quarterback, and we've got to be ready to support him. There are 11 guys out there on offense, so it's everyone. So to answer your question, that's under consideration at this time.
Q: Jerod, were you asked about Drake [Maye] and his performance on the last drive and what you saw from evaluating the tape from him?
JM: Yeah, another guy who has athleticism. He can make all the throws. Coming off the bench at that time is always tough, no matter what position, but especially at the quarterback position. I thought he did handle himself well, and tried to put a drive together. Something to build off of. I thought it was a good opportunity for him to go out there and get some live reps.
Q: Hey Jerod. Is it difficult to evaluate Jacoby given some of the conditions he's had to play under in these first three games? Is that one of the reasons that you want to give him a little bit more of an opportunity because of some of the conditions he's had to deal with?
JM: I don't know if that's the case. What I would say is all of our focus right now is to get to 2-2. I say we have the bonus Monday, and then get ready for San Fran. Everything's always under evaluation. Just so I'm clear, Jacoby is still our starting quarterback until I say he's not.
Q: Jerod, defensively, it seemed like the over-aggressiveness came back to bite you a little bit with [Aaron] Rodgers checking into some of the short yardage stuff to pick up first downs. What went into the idea to blitz him? It was charted as more than you did against [Joe] Burrow, and less than Geno Smith.
JM: Some of those weren't really blitzes. They were what we call simulated pressures. We still have our shell defense in the background. What I would say is that we did a poor job keeping them in the pocket, and that comes down to discipline. Going back to what caused us the biggest issue was, in my opinion, defensively, tackling. We couldn't tackle, we didn't tackle, and we really haven't had that problem up until this point. So we have to get that corrected.
Q: Hey Jerod. Just checking in on injury updates along the offensive line with Caedan [Wallace] and Michael [Jordan] yesterday, and then Vederian [Lowe] and Sidy [Sow] moving forward. Do you expect any of these to be long-term?
JM: We haven't had our medical meeting yet. I wish I had a better answer for you, but I'll let you know as the week progresses.
Q: Hey Jerod. You spoke, I think, before camp about not having repeated mistakes. We saw Marco Wilson get the DPIs in the first two weeks, Caedan [Wallace] the illegal formations in consecutive weeks. How do you balance being patient with those guys, but also being firm on not allowing repeated mistakes
JM: Yeah, we always talk about not going out there beating ourselves and being able to adjust on the fly. We talk about the pre-snap penalties that we just can't have, especially against a good team like New York. There is a balance. There is a balance to that. You know, with the younger guys, they're going to make mistakes. They're going to do things that you don't expect them to do, and you've just got to get those things corrected. We always – the guys that we dress for the game are the guys that we think give us the best chance to go out there and win.
Q: I was wondering, with the benefit of hindsight, it seemed like maybe you got away from the run game a little early. Would you have changed that after watching the tape and knowing how the game went, or did you feel that the plan to maybe go a little bit more with the passing attack suited what the game needed?
JM: We felt good about the game plan going in. What I will say is, defensively, we were on the field too much, and offensively, we weren't on the field enough. And that's what it comes down to. It comes down to executing. We talk about being a gameplan team, and we talk about our identity. Like I said, it's still early in the season, but we're just trying to find the right combination of not only players on the field, but also with our scheme in all three phases.
Q: How did you feel that the communication went with Jahlani [Tavai], I believe, having the green dot, and is that something that's going to have to be kind of a work in progress in [Ja'Whaun] Bentley's absence?
JM: I didn't think the green dot communication was a problem at all. When you watch the film, there's nothing the green dot or communication can really save you from defensively. It just came down to tackling the ball carriers, controlling the line of scrimmage, things that we've done up until this point, and we've just got to get better. It's always tough when you lose a guy like Bentley, but I do feel like we have players that can step up and fill those roles.
Q: Jerod, I'm wondering on a couple of the hits that it looked like maybe Jacoby [Brissett] took last night, including the very first play of the game for you guys offensively. There's an unblocked rusher, but it looks sort of like that person is – it's part of the design that he's not blocked. How have those keeper plays, do you think, how have they worked for you guys? Is there anything you can do to sort of mitigate the pressure that happens on those?
JM: Yeah, I mean, look, that's part of it. You go into a game, and you watch a lot of film on these guys. They do one thing; you're trying to anticipate what they're going to do; they do something different. I thought Jacoby on that play really did a good job just getting the ball out of his hands. It's just one of those – they were on the right call, and we were not in the right call.
