Patriots News 6-30, Gronkowski Saw Coaching For Jerod Mayo
Follow us
Follow Us
🕑 Read Time: 7 minutes
Posted Under: Patriots Commentary
HOME > Patriots Blog > Patriots Commentary
Good morning. Here are your Patriots news and notes for June 30. Tomorrow is July 1st, which means that training camp is approaching and that football—real football, with pads and games—will be right around the corner.
The Patriots announced the training camp dates that are open to the public, and you can find those on the Patriots website. However, remember that dates and times are subject to change, so check with the site for any updates before making the trek down Route 1.
Matthew Judon: The Patriot star linebacker was in New Hampshire for the NASCAR race and was named the Honorary Pace Car Driver at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
This was a new experience for Judon, who admitted that he couldn’t even drive a stick shift. So, although Judon was enthralled with the opportunity to spend a day behind the scenes with the NASCAR racing teams, he doesn’t see a racing career after his football playing days are behind him.
Judon said to the NASCAR media contingent, “I probably wouldn’t ask none of my teammates about driving. “I might be the best driver on the team. I came into it fresh, no knowledge. Just happy, for real. It’s just a new experience.”
“I’s cool when you go to a basketball game, and we’re shown on the screen,” Judon added. “Right now, it’s a NASCAR (race), and I get to ride in the pace car. It’s just supporting each other and that’s pretty awesome.”
Judon said he’d win if he were racing, but he had his money “on Bubba.”
Vince Wilfork: If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the hilarious new Kingsford charcoal commercial with Wilfork and Eagles great Jason Kelce. It begins with Kelce coming out of his back deck and finding Wilfork grilling there.
Wilfork then tosses Kelce a pair of his overall shorts, and he says, “Welcome to Retirement.” Then Wilfork begins teaching Kelce how to grill to perfection while the two begin to dance to the music of the meat grilling.
Kelce takes on the role of the student and says, “Teach me, friend. I am your grasshopper.”
Hopefully, it will be the first of several commercials for the pair for Kingsford. Check it out here. Isn’t it great to see the big guys getting opportunities to earn commercial cash and get some air time?
Davon Godchaux: We talked about Godchaux’s contract status. He is in the final year of a two-year extension that he signed last year. He will turn 30 this season, and it may be his last opportunity to sign a hefty contract.
However, Godchaux is invaluable in the sense that there is no one else on the roster that is built like him. He and Christian Barmore are an excellent duo in the middle of the defense, eating up double teams inside.
In large part due to Godchaux, the Patriots were the #1 defense in the league last year, allowing just 3.3 yards per rush. A two-year extension on the end of this year’s deal, would serve the team well.
Duron Harmon: The former Patriots safety is another player who would like his career to go full circle and retire as a Patriot. Although he’s 33, Harmon believes he can still help a football team.
The idea isn’t a bad one. The Patriots are stocked with safeties who are best suited to play in the box as strong safeties or dime linebackers. But having a savvy veteran who is experienced and a Super Bowl champion at free safety could be a nice addition.
“I think last year just kind of let me know where, you know, what my status in the NFL is,” Harmon said on the “Eye on Foxborough” podcast. If somebody gets hurt, we’ll give you a call, or … maybe another opportunity comes up early. I’m not sure, but right now, I am, you know, still training to play.”
Would Harmon return to the Patriots if Eliot Wolf or Jerod Mayo asked him to? That is a no-brainer.
“Oh, without a doubt, that would be the perfect end to this, to this story,” Harmon said. “I would, I would love to be, you know, a part of something from the beginning … because they’re trying to build something, right. And I know they have the right people to do it.
“So if the opportunity came, I mean, that would be special,” he went on. “That would be a really special way to end my career.”
Patriots 4th & 2 Podcast: This past week, we discussed the latest news from Foxboro in our PatsFans.com podcast.
Derek Havens and I talked about some minicamp thoughts and where the team may possibly be headed in training camp regarding the 53-man roster. We’ll have a full roster prediction soon. Please check it out.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t in is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed the game with how teams used the tight end position. This will be discussed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
When the Patriots drafted Jerod Mayo, it was apparent to the team’s players that he was wise beyond his years. Tedy Bruschi called Mayo “an old soul.” Many others called him “Little Bill” because his knowledge of the Patriots’ defense nearly rivaled Bill Belichick’s.
Rob Gronkowski appeared on Julian Edelman’s “Games With Names” podcast and said that it was apparent a long time ago that coaching was in the cards for Mayo once his playing career was over.
“Jerod Mayo was just a phenomenon on the football field, lining everyone up and also in the meeting rooms,” Gronkowski said. He knew where every player needed to be during any situation that occurred on the defensive side of the ball.
“He knew how to read offenses, he knew when to call out plays, and he was always correct when he’d call a play out, or else he was just making the whole defense aware of when that play was going to be called,” Gronkowski added.
“He was just always alert, and you could always tell that was going to translate into the next phase of his life.”
“When he was playing, that’s what made him a better player, too,” Gronkowski said of Mayo’s football I.Q. ” If you know where to be on the football field, that can make you a better player because you’re already in position to make the play.”
Edelman also had a unique perspective of Mayo as he played offense and cornerback on the 2011 team that went to the Super Bowl.
“I always had to look at Jerod,” Edelman said. I knew what I had to do, but I’d always ask for the approval nod from Jerod because if Jerod said that, you knew it was right.”
“Jerod Mayo was the Tom Brady on the defensive side of the ball,” Gronkowski said.
Sara Marshall recently sat down with another Patriots great, Vince Wilfork, who is also firmly on board with Mayo being an excellent head coach.
“Everybody knows a middle linebacker is the quarterback of a defense. And that’s what he was. And you got to understand, he had guys around him, veteran guys around him with leadership qualities, but he was the one who was Captain.
“Bill saw it in him. So, I knew right then and there that he would have a successful career, not only a career going into the coaching field, but being able to be coached and drafted by the greatest coach of all time,” Wilfork told Marshall.
“And now, all of a sudden, he’s in the driver’s seat. I think that is the perfect situation to be in because I think where he’s at in life, with his age and his ability to touch these kids on a younger scale, I think Bill kind of didn’t have that because Bill was so old school. But I think right now he is the best situation for us to be in, and I think he will be fine,” Wilfork added.
“Jerod will have to have his own flair. You know, he had to be able to take everything he learned in the coaching world, being up under Bill Belichick and you know, stuff that he wanted, some stuff that he wanted to change and making his own, I think a lot of coaches have problems when they leave from up on the Bill Belichick and they go somewhere, they want to be Bill Belichick. I think Jerod’s going to take a different approach. He’s going to take, — some pick and choose what he wants to take from what he’s learned, but also bring his own flair to the game.
And I think part of that flair to the game is he can understand, and he can relate more than Bill ever could at this point in his career. So I think that alone is gonna get his players to play for him., and it’s gonna be, — I think he’s the right man for the job. It’s gonna take some time because we’re in the rebuilding stage. So, you know, we drafted the quarterback three overall. So it’s gonna take some time to groom. But I think… He is the best decision that we did. I think he’s the one for the job. “
Now it is up to Mayo to prove the kudos he’s receiving from his former teammates are well-deserved. It may take a bit to turn the team around, but the defense should already be in a great place.
Edelman’s podcast is quickly becoming one of the best podcasts out there.
A lawsuit against the NFL in the “Sunday Ticket” case was found in favor of the plaintiffs and against the NFL, which means if the case holds up on appeal, it will cost every team a lot of money.
ESPN reported that a jury of eight determined that the league broke antitrust laws by selling the subscription service only on DirecTV at an inflated price. (Say it isn’t so)
While the NFL said it will appeal the ruling, if the verdict is upheld, the league will be forced to pay $4.8 billion in damages, with $4.7 billion going to the residential class and another $97 million to the commercial class. However, the damages could increase to $14.39 billion (that is BILLION) because damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws.
If the league does pay out the $14.39 billion, it will be spread out across all 32 teams, amounting to $449.6 million for all 32 teams. That is no small amount. Perhaps Bill Belichick was right when he said famously that the league would be forced to “hold a bake sale.”
“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices, including RedZone, Sunday Ticket, and NFL+, is by far the most fan-friendly distribution model in sports and entertainment,” the league said in a released statement.
“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit. We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge [Philip] Gutierrez throughout the trial.”
______________
“Jerod Mayo was the Tom Brady on the defensive side of the ball,” Gronkowski said.
Rob Gronkowski on the Julian Edelman “Games With Names” podcast.
_______________
“Talent sets the floor; Character sets the ceiling.” Bill Belichick
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on Apple and YouTube as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens, and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.
From our archive - this week all-time:
April 8 - April 23 (Through 26yrs)
Join 2,000+ fans getting exclusive stats, analysis, and insights delivered straight to their inbox every week. Never miss a play.
I’m happy with the transition to Mayo. BB brought in a dynasty here (no – not ALL Brady). But BB’s “do your job” and militant work work work was not blending in with the new generation of players. You could see there were player factions and some not doing their job well. BB mode worked for the Rodney Harrison’s of the world but not in this current time. So time for change. Mayo’s hire has it so a new guy isn’t coming in and changing everything. Mayo can keep a lot of the core values/processes and as the article well… Read more »