PATRIOTS HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO
PRESS CONFERENCE
July 29, 2024
JM: Hey, this is real football, right? This is real football. We're out here in pads today, but before we get to that, I just want to thank the medical professionals in-house and also Mass General as far as the care for [Christian] Barmore. Obviously, it's an unfortunate thing, but for me, it's not even about football. When you talk about things like that, it's about the man. He's getting tremendous care, and I'm anticipating him coming back.
Q: Do you have any timetable [on Christian Barmore] whatsoever?
JM: No timetable. I think all these situations are different, and I'm not a specialist in that world, so I don't want to put a diagnosis or a timetable to come back. When he's ready to go, we'll be here waiting for him.
Q: From a procedural perspective, what do you anticipate doing with him [Christian Barmore] right now? Is he an IR guy?
JM: Well, this is one of those things where you just don't know a timetable. That's more of a question probably for Eliot [Wolf] and our head trainer. I should have brought him out here with me.
Q: How did his [Christian Barmore] symptoms first manifest? What were the first steps of his care as much as he could share?
JM: We have these case managers who are responsible for a group of guys, and they did a great job under Jim's [Whalen] leadership. Chris Dolan noticed something, and they investigated it. Kudos to those guys.
Q: Did that happen last week? We saw him [Christian Barmore] out here a little bit limited.
JM: I'm not exactly sure when it happened. The whole timetable of how it happened, I'm really not sure.
Q: Have you talked to him [Christian Barmore] at all?
JM: I have. I had a conversation with him. He's in good spirits, and like I said before, he's getting tremendous care. His mom is up here too, so anytime mom's in the house, it's a good day.
Q: Is he [Christian Barmore] actually in the hospital currently?
JM: No, he's not in the hospital right now.
Q: Do you [indiscernible] for a 25-year-old kid? He [Christian Barmore] just wants to play football, right?
JM: Yeah, he just wants to play football, but in understanding the seriousness of this, he needs to get healthy, and we'll be praying for him.
Q: Did you or Christian [Barmore] talk to David Andrews about this before?
JM: I remember when that whole thing happened. The same training staff, for the most part, that dealt with that are still here. I have full confidence in those guys to help him out. I'm sure at some point in time, you've got to remember this just happened, not too long ago. He's still trying to digest what's going on right now as well, and as well as his treatment plan.
Q: Did you talk to the team about it today?
JM: We did talk to the team. We talked to the team about it. A lot of those guys were concerned, but we wanted to wait until all the tests and things were run before we had that conversation.
Q: Christian's [Barmore] agent credited Jim Whalen, and he said it could have been a lot worse without him. Could you maybe offer more details on the difference that he made?
JM: Yeah, Jim Whalen, he's a huge piece of the puzzle. I would also say he has a tremendous team behind him that do the day-to-day things as well, so kudos to that whole entire staff.
Q: That position, Armon Watts, Daniel Ekuale, who are you looking to possibly do some of those things?
JM: Yeah, that's a great question. We'll see. Today's the first day of pads, and it's easy to say this guy can do it, that guy can do it, but a guy like Barmore, as disruptive as he is, it's kind of hard to get that same production. But look, other guys have to step up and treat it like a normal injury, even though it's not a normal injury, and next man up.
Q: We saw Antonio Gibson back out yesterday. Is he now officially off the NFI list?
JM: He's back, yeah, he's back. He's practicing, and it's a day-to-day thing with him on the field.
Q: The same with Terrell Jennings, as well?
JM: Yes, same thing.
Q: Is Kendrick Bourne progressing the way you want him to?
JM: Yeah, sorry, you're confusing me. So Bourne is doing everything he can to get back on the field. When that is, I don't know. When he's ready to go, we'll put him out there.
Q: We saw you guys rep a lot of kickoff work over the course of the spring. We haven't seen as much in the summer so far. I imagine, maybe some of that is going on behind the scenes? If so, how is that?
JM: Yeah, it's definitely a lot going into that unit behind the scenes. I would also say the NFL is still nailing down how they want to officiate that play, so we have to be flexible. It's a very fluid situation, and any time a new memo comes out, we're going to try something new, so we'll see where we land.
Q: For the casual football fans, can you explain why your eyes light up, why these guys' eyes light up when you say, first full padded practice?
JM: Yeah, you know, most of us started playing as young kids, and we would take our helmets. How many marks do you have on your helmet and things like that? It kind of brings back those memories. These guys know once you put on the pads, and there's been a lot of going back and forth, making big plays, and you would always hear guys like, sack, that's a sack, or that's this, or I would have done this to you, but now we're on pads, we'll see. It's an opportunity for all those little beefs to really get squashed out.
Q: You've talked a lot about how you want the best five offensive linemen out there. At what point do you want to determine who those five are? Over the last couple of days, you've seen the same group out there.
JM: Yeah, honestly, that's why we have the preseason. Hopefully, going into the third preseason game, we have a good understanding of who those five will be.
Q: Sidy Sow has always been a part of that group of five that we've seen out there, even dating back to this spring. What did he do last year to prove that he should be a starter this season?
JM: We don't have starters right now on the offensive line. In saying that, Sidy's done a tremendous job hanging around here in the offseason, working out, and putting everything he has into the playbook. He did a great job in the spring, and hopefully it continues today in full pads.
Q: We've seen Javon Baker have some really good practices, especially yesterday with the one-on-ones. We had that 60-yard catch from Joe Milton [III] the other day. What are you seeing from him in his development? What is he bringing to the table right now?
JM: He's definitely a good player. I would say he has a lot to learn. Even that long pass yesterday, no one tagged him down. He threw the ball up in the air. Just reminding guys that this isn't college. This is the NFL. You're not being tagged down. That right there is a fumble. Those are the things that they'll learn through training camp and hopefully doesn't do it during the season.
Q: You mentioned how you might try to fill in that position behind him [Christian Barmore]. How does maybe not having a player like that impact the rest of the defense?
JM: It's no secret, last year he was one of our best players defensively. In saying that, we have a lot of guys. I don't think just one person can embody all of the different things that Barmore did for us. But we do have guys that are hungry. We do have guys that can penetrate the offensive line. I'm not too concerned about that. It's the next man up.
Q: We've seen more from Brenden Schooler playing defense in this camp. What have you seen from him in that role?
JM: I thought it was important to not just have core special teams players only focused on special teams. Schooler will be at the game. He's an all-pro type of special teams player. In saying that, there will be times where maybe we need to get out of a game because of injuries or whatever it is. Hopefully it's from blowing another team out and putting him in there. But he needs to have a fundamental understanding of our defense. To answer your question, this guy can run, and this guy can tackle and this guy is smart. You put those three things together, you've got a pretty good defensive player.
Q: With the new kickoff rules, how much is your guys returning ability going to factor into the 53?
JM: I think that's definitely under consideration. I would also say we're a gameplan team offensively and defensively; and on special teams, specifically KOC and KOR. Sometimes you might just want to kick the ball out the back of the endzone and lean on the defense. We're going to lean on our defense this year. I would also say offensively, we're going to run the ball and try to control the game that way.
Q: What does the kicking competition look like so far? We've seen Joey [Slye] and we've seen Chad [Ryland] out there.
JM: They both missed the first one yesterday. As we continue to go on, that is a huge piece of the puzzle. To have a kicker that we can depend on. Those guys are out here competing, just like at every other position.
Q: Regarding Brenden [Schooler], players like him in the past who might have made the roster because of their special team's ability, now defining whether a guy makes a team or not in that position, do you lean toward defense or offensive contributions, as opposed to only on special teams?
JM: Absolutely. To answer your question, I don't fundamentally believe, unless you are a Matt Slater, Hall of Fame type of special teams player, I think the more you can do, the more value you can bring to our roster and our team, the more flexibility, that's the important thing for us.
Q: On the [Javon] Baker thing where you mentioned he tossed the ball up in the air, how is your coaching philosophy evolving in terms of how to address it? Do you want to get right on that or is it more in the film room?
JM: I think it's a combination. You see me bouncing around all the time, pulling guys to the side. Those are just basic rules and fundamentals. It doesn't matter if you're on offense, defense or special teams. You get on those guys in the film room, you get on them out here, but also you have to show those guys. Remember, this is a young man still trying to figure out the NFL. For me, it's just about developing those guys, not only body and mind, but also just how to play an NFL game.
Q: Does that grow with the relationship? He's [Javon Baker] got that flair, maybe it's a part of what makes him so good.
JM: You don't want to kill a guy for showing some type of energy and some type of passion. I encourage those things. You make a big play, it's not just you, it's the rest of the team. But also, there's a way to finish the play. That's what we really focus on in the classroom. We can't do this; this is what we want. I think it's important to get that across.
Q: How do you feel about Drake's [Maye] mechanics at this point? It seems like there's been a fair amount of free quarters, which I know a lot of guys have morphed into. It seems at times that's maybe not necessary or inaccurate.
JM: Honestly, those off-schedule plays is when you really see it. He can make all the throws and he's an athletic guy. Working on those off-schedule plays outside the pocket, where guys can really start moving around, that's when you'll see his arm strength and things like that. Thanks, guys.
