Here’s the full transcript of what New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo had to say on Tuesday, August 6, 2024:
OPENING STATEMENT:
“Well, a little rainy day. I think it’ll be good for the players to come out here and continue to work on their fundamentals. Now that the grass is slick, obviously, you’ll probably see some people on the ground, and there’ll be great teaching moments.”
“I know what all you guys want to know. One thing I did learn from Bill is I don’t talk about players on other teams. So just let me go ahead and say that now. But I remember as a player, I appreciated that. I appreciated that the only opinions that mattered were inside the walls. And so I’m still trying to apply that now going forward.”
On whether he can confirm the talks are ongoing (RE: Brandon Aiyuk rumors):
“Look, I’ll be honest with you, that’s more of an Eliot [Wolf] question. Right now, I’m just focused on the guys out here, the New England Patriots.”
On how he feels about the wide receiver group after a couple of weeks and if he feels they need an upgrade there:
“Those guys are working hard. They’re getting better every day. Now, from Eliot and my perspective, we’re always trying to get better, no matter what position we’re talking about, no matter how those guys get here, whether it’s through cuts or through trades or whatever, we’re always looking to improve our team and win now.”
On the fact there are multiple reports out there that the 49ers have negotiated a trade offer about Brandon and have allowed him to speak to you guys and if he can confirm that:
“I can’t. Like I said earlier, I’m just focused on the guys in the room.”
On if he heard what Matthew Judon said yesterday during his press conference with the media, and if he has any comments:
“Look, Judon is doing what he has to do. He’s out here every day. He’s in pads. He’ll be in pads today as well. He’s doing everything in the meeting rooms. It was a hiccup, and I feel like we’re on the same page and we’re moving forward.”
On when a player’s attitude is, ‘I’m just doing what I need to do so I don’t get fined,’ if that’s good for the team right now:
“I mean, every day is its own day. Sometimes I come to work and I don’t feel like talking at all either, both as a player and also as a coach. So it’s day to day. What I will say about Judon, he always brings great energy to the practice field, brings great energy in the locker room, and that is the expectation that he set early on, and I don’t see it any different now.”
On with Judon, if it’s his understanding the team’s approach with his negotiations, if it’s affected by other negotiations you might be having through your conversations with Eliot:
“No, all of those conversations are independent of each other. So I guess to answer your question, hopefully.”
So you’re not waiting on another move before you do anything with Judon?
“Everything is its own independent move, and that’s how we look at it.”
On what the plan will be for Drake Maye in Thursday’s opener:
“Drake will play. Drake will play, and when he gets in the game, we’ll talk about that, but he will play in the game. Everyone who is healthy enough to play in the game will play in the game. That’s more than you’ve ever gotten before.”
How much?
“Not sure. Now you’re going too far.”
On if he envisions all four quarterbacks playing:
“So as of today, that’s the plan, to have all those guys out there playing. And once again, it goes back to competing. So yesterday, you guys saw the live tackling period, and things like that, that I think is very important. And you don’t want the first time these guys have to get hit or hit someone else to be in the preseason game. So we got to see what these guys can do with live-action.”
On if a contract offer has been made to Matthew Judon:
“I’m not going to discuss his contract situation.”
On the fact it seems like Eliot Wolf has been aggressive, trying to improve this team throughout the offseason and how much he likes his approach and how much he and Wolf are on the same page with what he’s trying to build:
“I love Eliot’s approach to getting better. Once again, on the outside, we don’t have a chance, but we’re always trying to get the team better. And Eliot and his staff, [Matt] Groh, those guys have been doing a good job identifying pieces that will help us win now. We’ve been on the same page for a long time, even before I got this role and before he got his role. We’ve had a good relationship since then, and our philosophy is to marry.”
On the fact he’s used the word collaborative a lot in the draft process and if it applies as well to roster cut-downs when they reach the final 53:
“100 %. And I would also say the assistant coaches and Eliot and the rest of his staff also have a say. Ultimately, Eliot and I have to make a final call, but we try to stay collaborative in that approach.”
On knowing they’re always trying to get better if there is additional urgency to try to improve the roster because they have a young quarterback and if there is urgency on the team’s end to make sure they’re giving him the best environment possible:
“There’s always a sense of urgency to get good players. Everyone talks about young quarterbacks and surrounding them with good players. Look, we have an older quarterback, and we want to surround him with good players as well. We’re going to put the best product or the best team out there that we can.”
On the fact that yesterday, we saw Keion White and Jeremiah Pharms step in at fullback and if that’s a plan for the season or if it’s just a trial:
“It’s kind of an experiment at this point in time. Remember, Keion did play tight in in college as well. So it’s an experiment.”
On the fact he gave the media a lot as far as who’s going to potentially play at quarterback and when and if the players have been informed what they’ll be doing Thursday as well:
“Not at this time. So they’ll read it probably in one of your articles or something like that. But once again, though, the expectation is that everyone’s always going to play. We don’t want to just sit people out and lose an opportunity to go out there with live bullets flying. Probably not a good analogy, but that’s how I think about it.”
On if he plans on Jacoby Brissett to start on Thursday night:
“That’s the plan. And once again, look, I’m telling you guys this today. I mean, it could change as the week continues to progress, but that is the plan.”
On his theories on the live tackling portion that we saw at the end of practice:
“Yeah, that we need it. It goes into fundamentals. We can do all the scalloping and thudding up that you want to. It’s a lot different trying to get a man to the ground. So that was as far as our evaluation and competing, we wanted to see who could actually do that. Sometimes you have those guys in shorts that look great. And then once it’s time to put the shoulder pads on and tackle, they just disappear. We’re trying to weed that out.”
On as far as roster competitions go, not just a quarterback, but all positions, how he personally weighs practice versus preseason:
“Yeah, there’s nothing more important that we do than practice. And it’s about the day after day after day trending in the right direction. Look, the preseason game, whether to play a series, a quarter, a half, those are important as well. But remember, that’s just straight …. it’s not really scheme. When we’re out here on the practice field, it’s a little bit more scheme, a little bit more thinking. So I think practice is the most important thing at this time.”
On the fact a player, Kendrick Bourne, was primarily featured in some of these reports [for Aiyuk]. When players are involved in trade talks or rumors, if he’s spoken to him, or if he feels compelled to speak to him about it:
“Honestly, I did talk to him this morning and it was a good conversation. And once again, I feel like the story is so much further along than anything else. I just wanted to make sure we cleared the air. And I do believe in being transparent with the players and really just setting those guys at ease.”
On as far as he’s concerned, whether they acquire better players, how good he thinks this team can be right from the get-go, especially if they acquire more talent:
“I don’t have a crystal ball. We’ll wait and see. But what I will say is we’ll be better as the season goes on. I don’t know if the first game we go out there and get beat or beat whoever we’re playing, I think teams are still trying to figure out their identity because now we only have three preseason games as well. So we’ll see what happens.”
On the fact they would have the season ticket holder practice in the stadium before the first preseason game. And Bill [Belichick] would always use that, he said, as a practice run for not only the players, but the coaching staff and if he’s had ample time in the stadium to go through that, and how he feels about just the logistics of the staff:
“That’s a great question. We have gone through that, and tomorrow we’ll go through it as well. We’ll get the coaches up in the box, and we’ll just have a mock game, substitutions, all those things so we’re clean. It’s a test for us, but also it’s something that we can probably improve, and we’ll see how it plays out tomorrow.”
On the fact Thursday night’s the first time he gets to see his team in full uniform and gets to put on a headset, and what that’s like for him:
“I’m excited. I’m excited to be on the sideline. And honestly, I’m excited for the players to go out there and perform well. So that’s the main thing.”
“All right. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.”
(Editor’s Note: This transcript is done via the available footage and is subject to typos. If you spot something, please take a moment to let me know in the comments below.)
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
