PATRIOTS HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO
PRESS CONFERENCE
January 1, 2025
JM: Good morning, and Happy New Year. Before I start, I just found out what's going on in the city of New Orleans. I just want to make sure that I offer condolences to all those that are affected. Obviously it's a very unfortunate thing that happened. It puts things in perspective, lives being changed like that. I just want them to know that both me, the team, and the organization definitely offer our heartfelt condolences. All right, this game, it's the last game of the season. My message to the guys was we want to finish off the season strong and try to build some momentum going into the offseason. I would say the guys are ready to go. We'll see how practice goes today. Obviously, I'm sure the question will come up, 'do you want to see certain players?' Absolutely. I would say if players are healthy, they'll be ready to go. As far as how much they play, how much they don't, I've never been a part of a team, as a player or as a coach, going into a game not wanting to win. It's not going to change today, so that's my message to the team.
Q: Jerod, what can you tell us about the condition of Drake [Maye]? Do you expect him to start on Sunday?
JM: You're going to talk to Drake here in a second. Drake's healthy. He'll be at practice today, and we'll see how it goes this week.
Q: You had another guy who left the game on Saturday with a concussion issue with Christian Gonzalez. Any updates as to whether he'll be playing?
JM: He's still in the protocol, so I don't want to get too far down that line.
Q: Jerod, when you say, 'We'll see how it goes this week' referring to Drake, what factors will be at play when deciding whether he starts Sunday?
JM: If you talk to Drake, which you will here soon, he's a competitor. He wants to play. He's still developing, so he'll be ready to go.
Q: If he wants to play, will he start?
JM: Drake is our starting quarterback. If he's healthy and ready to go, as we go through this week of practice, then he'll play.
Q: Jerod, you said that you want to make sure that you're winning the game, but also mentioned earlier that you want young players to get opportunities. How much of an opportunity is this game to get those guys more chances?
JM: We'll have to see how the game goes.
Q: Yesterday, you guys waived Yannick [Ngakoue], What went into that decision?
JM: Just trying to give a veteran player an opportunity to catch on with a team that will be in the postseason. I'll just say this about Yannick. He did a great job. He was great in the meeting rooms. He was great out there in the practice field. A veteran that brought a lot to the table, and wish him nothing but the best.
Q: What about for a guy like Drake? You've made it this far into the season. There's only one game left. What about the risk of injury now with just this one game?
JM: That's any position. I know oftentimes we focus on the quarterback spot, but that's part of playing football.
Q: Is there any concern about saying to the team, if you were to sit him, that he's more important than everyone else?
JM: Everyone that's healthy will be ready to play and are expected to play.
Q: I think it was Monday you addressed the idea of Joe [Milton III] maybe getting some time. What's the level of faith there with him? I know you know what you have pretty much with Jacoby [Brissett], but specific to Joe, is it possible?
JM: I would say it's still all up in the air. All three quarterbacks, as we've carried two, and the emergency quarterback, will be ready to go.
Q: What have you seen from Joe since he got in the building in late April, early May, to where he is now?
JM: I think his ability to read coverages has definitely improved. He has all the physical tools. I would say the command of the huddle has also improved, and he's done a good job on the show teams throughout the week.
Q: You talked about laying a foundation. Which portions of the foundation do you feel are most solidly laid so far, in terms of from last January to a year later?
JM: I'm not going to get into the different position groups, but I would think that we all...
Q: I mean culture-wide, locker room-wide?
JM: Yeah, look, these guys have come in here every week, and I know our record is what it is. They come in here every single week during a hard season, ready to work, going out there trying to get better. I think that's huge. That's part of it.
Q: Jerod, what have you learned about Drake to this point, and what more could you learn?
JM: I feel like we talk about this often. I would just say his ability to change the page and learn from his mistakes.
Q: Any reflections on this being the last week of the season, and what this journey has been like for you so far?
JM: Yeah, I think it's important to remember where you are in the journey, and no one's happy with our record or anything like that. Understanding where you are in the journey is definitely important.
Q: How much better of a coach are you today than you were at the time as you go and build this process?
JM: Yeah, for me, first year doing anything, there are going to be growing pains and things like that. You have to learn from those mistakes. Move forward, do the things that you did well early in the season, and carry them over to the next season.
Q: You mentioned Dan Campbell before when talking about the lumps you expected to take in your first year. What stands out to you about how he was able to turn things around?
JM: It takes time. I would say you look at those guys now, both from a roster and a coaching perspective. From his first year to his second year to his third year, all those things, there was change, and he got it nailed down, and those guys are playing well. There are other examples, but right now I'm focused on the Bills for the most part, and that's what we're going to do.
Q: You said earlier that you'll have to see how the week goes before you make any decisions about the quarterbacks. What will have to happen during the week to change anything from what you've done in the past?
JM: It's been this way the whole year. You go out there and have a good week of practice. We're always competing, and you have an opportunity in the game. It's not about how many snaps you play in the game. To me, it's the value and the quality of those snaps that are the most important thing as we evaluate.
Q: What have you learned about yourself this year?
JM: Are you being serious? This is the same question. Just being resilient, just trying to be resilient. It hasn't gone the way that any of us have wanted it to go, and it's a huge piece of it. Steve Jobs, I think, had a quote where you have winning seasons or, 'winning years, and then you have character-building years,' and this has been one of those character-building years that I'll always remember.
Q: You said on Saturday that you hear the fans and some of the chants. Does that affect you?
JM: No. For me, it's all about the guys in the locker room. Look, they're disappointed in the record. I understand that. Look, even with you guys in the media, I understand what your job is, and that's okay. My thing is it's always about the team, and it's about winning football games.
Q: Are you concerned or worried about that this could be your last game on Sunday?
JM: For me, it's all about just focusing on the Bills trying to win that game.
Q: How much work have you had to do on the Bills, considering you played them just two weeks ago?
JM: Yeah, I mean, look, you always want to prepare as if it's the first time you played them. Look, we know those guys, and you go back and look at that game, the first half versus the second half, and we were in it for quite some time until the second half just got out of control. Definitely still doing all of our homework. We're still game-planning, approaching it like a normal week.
Q: Jerod, over the last couple days, have Eliot [Wolf] or anyone in ownership had any input on the approach when it comes to who will play Sunday?
JM: Look, I'm in constant communication with Eliot. I'm in constant communication with ownership. Again, I've never been a part of a team, as a player or a coach, where we haven't gone out there and tried to win the game. So those conversations haven't happened.
Q: When you're assessing trying to figure out why things are going wrong, how do you parse through what's the result of coaching, player execution, talent?
JM: Yeah, that's part of it. You have to evaluate everything. You have to evaluate the different processes throughout the week. You have to evaluate the coaches. I have to evaluate myself and have others evaluate me. Look, when you have a season like this, you've got to evaluate everything.
PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK DRAKE MAYE
PRESS CONFERENCE
January 1, 2025
Q: How are you feeling, and what's your approach to this final game?
DM: I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. I'm excited to get out here at practice. One more opportunity. Happy New Year to y'all. I'm excited to get another chance to play an opponent we know. We played them here just recently. One last time with this team. This team, we'll never be together. Same team, same guys, same squad going out there one more time at home, so looking forward to getting another chance at these guys, looking forward to getting a chance to fight a good opponent.
Q: Would you understand if you didn't play the whole game? Have you talked at all about that yet?
DM: Yeah. I'm preparing like I'm the starter. I think I'm going to be the starter, so I'm looking forward to being out there. I'm ready to go out there and win and compete in a close game. I want to be out there. You get experiences in these close games that you can't replicate in practice. You can't get those reps anywhere else. So, looking forward to, like I said, getting one more chance at these guys and end off on a good note.
Q: Drake, Jerod said basically if you're healthy, you'll play. Do you have any reason based on how you feel to think you wouldn't play?
DM: No, I feel great. I woke up feeling good, thank the good Lord. It's another day to get out here, and I'm looking forward to getting out there Sunday.
Q: When you met with AVP [Alex Van Pelt], Coach [Ben] McAdoo and [T.C.] McCartney this morning, did they indicate any division of snaps in your meetings in your meetings this morning?
DM: No. We just watched the Bills. We watched the Bills tape and went over the base-down game plan. So, there wasn't really much talk on that. So, like I said, I'm going out there, I'm healthy to play, I'm going to play, and that's what I'm focused on.
Q: Drake, with one game left in your rookie season, is there anything in particular you're looking to show, improve or work on? It's one last game. What do you hope to accomplish?
DM: Yeah, it's always another game to work better in situations, work better on third downs, work better in protections on third downs, work better on base-downs, run checks, work better against Cover 0 – the Bills bring some of that. Working against different zones, working with our guys. Hopefully, some of these same guys are going to be out here next year. So, working with the guys, getting game reps, getting reps against 1-on-1 coverage and little things like that. You've always got a chance to go out there and improve for next season and going into the offseason. So, looking forward to a chance to give these guys some opportunities and watch them make some plays.
Q: Drake, where do you feel like you've improved the most over the course of the year?
DM: I think that's tough. I think that's a tough question. I think it's hard to gauge myself. I think I'm just trying to attack each and every day, try to improve little things here and there throughout games, try to still protect the football better. I think that's something I need to improve on. What I would improve on, I think just playing the role as quarterback, being a quarterback in the National Football League. I've learned a lot from Jacoby [Brissett]. He's been a huge help with studying the call sheet, studying how to prepare, how to handle guys in the locker room, how to handle a huddle and how to have a kind of voice and command. Shoot, even when I'm up here in the media, don't sound timid or shy. I think I've kind of grown into that, and that's been my personality, but I think it kind of took a while for it to come out.
Q: Drake, can you believe that it's Week 18? What's it like finally being in this final week of the season?
DM: Yeah. I mean, I was just telling them it flies by. It's like we were just sitting there in the quarterback room and going over some of the base plans before training camp. We even brought up rookie minicamp today where I threw a flat on one play where it's not even designed to throw a flat and how far we've come. So, it's been awesome. I think there's a lot of learned experiences. Obviously, it's been a frustrating season. It's been a tough season, a lot to learn from, but I'm excited. I can kind of see where it's going, and I'm excited for these guys to get, like I said, one last chance to get out there and play on Sunday.
Q: Drake, obviously, you weren't quite as productive or efficient on Saturday. What do you think was affecting your game last week?
DM: Like I said, I just really didn't get in the rhythm. I think getting in the rhythm, I think that's part of easy completions, finding these completions. It's partly on me, and I think just offensively, we didn't execute. We didn't execute. They were a good defense; obviously, they're top defense in the league for a reason. They had good players, and I think we just didn't execute. We had a chance where we could move the ball on them some and had a chance to make some plays; I think we just didn't execute. My ball placement can be better, and against the blitz, I can be better and little things in that area.
Q: Drake, one of the things about the growth of a player is avoiding the same mistake twice. Do you feel you've done that, or are there mistakes that you've made a couple times that you just hit yourself in the head and say, 'Why did I do that?'
DM: Yeah, I'd like to say that I haven't made the same mistake twice, but I think there's definitely times where if you bring up the clip, hold the clicker the last time and say, 'Hey, this is the same thing twice in a row.' So, I've definitely felt like I've improved in certain areas of trying not to take sacks, trying to get in field goal range, trying to protect the ball and not try to throw it into tight coverage or endangered coverage. But at the same time, I think there's always ways to look back. I think watching film after the season and watch all my sacks or watch all my interceptions and can see, 'Hey, with this look or this scenario, just sometimes throwing it away, throwing it out of bounds or throwing a check down could be better.'
Q: Drake, when you look over your rookie season and working with Alex Van Pelt, what do you think is the biggest lesson you've taken from him directly as somebody who's helped you develop as a quarterback this year?
DM: I think that's a great question. I think some of what AVP does every day is he brings it every day. I think that's part of something that the quarterback, you've got to bring it every day. It doesn't matter. As the quarterback of the team, these guys look to you, and it's within the title of bringing it every day and bringing juice. Even when you're 3-13, you're bringing it every day and still approaching it the same way. I think AVP has done a great job of telling me throughout the games as well, 'Hey, you just threw an interception; hey, you're still the same guy. Still go out there and rip it.' He's done a great job of kind of putting confidence in me, kind of instilling that and realizing that you've got to play with confidence in this league to play quarterback.
Q: Does it feel like defenses are starting to anticipate you rolling out a little bit more, and is there an emphasis at all for you to stay in the pocket, or are you just kind of really trying to play however the defense defends you?
DM: Other than the first one, I think that first throw down I may have left early. But really other than that, I think stunts, I think the guy would have came free regardless. So, I think staying in the pocket. I mean, I'm trying to be a pocket passer, but at the same time, I think there's times for scramble plays. So no, I wouldn't say I'm necessarily leaving early at a very high tendency or high number of times. So, I definitely think that's an area I try to stay – what's the word?
Q: Disciplined?
DM: Yeah, disciplined isn't the word I was looking for, but yeah, disciplined to not kind of get out of there. They're kind of hunting the rush up for me to scramble. So, I'm trying to stay in the pocket and make plays when they come.
Q: If you were to look at the last game at North Carolina, your motion, your fundamentals, all those things, and then look at this previous game, just some of the things, what would be one or two things that would really stand out from the way that you altered anything from then to now?
DM: Yeah, I think just being more definitive in my feet, decisive drops, decisive eyes, decisiveness in general. I think there's a lot of times I'm kind of hopping back there in college and trying to be decisive, plant my feet and let it go. In the NFL, I think you've got to play on time. You've got to play with anticipation. So, I think, like I said, I feel like I see it well, and I've got good feel. So, I think just getting more and more reps in this offense, being able to change some stuff and hopefully get to that level. So, there's a lot of area for me to grow in this offense, and I appreciate what AVP, T.C. and those guys have done.
