Here’s what Jerod Mayo had to say after the New England Patriots’ final regular-season victory over the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
OPENING STATEMENT:
“Good evening. Just what I told the players, and they’re just proud of the way that they came out and competed today. Obviously, there were some guys that hadn’t played as much football the rest of the season that really showed up today. Just there in the locker room, pretty emotional. But at the same time, these guys have been turning the page, ignoring the noise, and just coming to work every day, and I’m very appreciative of that. Told them after the first win of the season, coaches are nothing without the players. I just told them that again. I just appreciate all the effort. Also told them, Look, today it’s all about the game. We’ll have enough time here tomorrow, and the next couple of days to address all the other things. At some point in time here, I’ll have my normal meeting with the Krafts, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
On how strange this week was for him and his team with the issues with players and fans and some booing, and what the day was like for his team:
“For me, the day, it was fine. I felt like the players were locked in all week, even amongst all that noise. So I appreciate them for that.”
On what he would say to the fans who were upset that today’s win prevented them from getting the number one overall pick:
“Look, anytime we step foot, and I’ve said this over the past couple of weeks, as a player, as a coach, we always want to go out there and win.”
On the fact we didn’t see Jahlani Tavai play the first quarter and if that was for disciplinary reasons:
“We went into the game with the plan and went out there and executed it. ”
On the decision to sit Drake Maye after the first series:
“It was my decision. Coach’s decision.”
On what factors there were that went into Jahlani’s case and Drake’s case:
“Yeah, all those things are internal, and I’d rather keep it that way.”
On what he saw from Joe Milton today, and how he’s developed all season:
“Yeah, I mean, he’s done a tremendous job in practice as a show team quarterback. He’s done a tremendous job doing that, and I’m glad to see the way he came out today. He did a good job operating the huddle. Obviously, started off on fire, but it was good to see.”
On the fact he said he expected to take some lumps this year and if he expects to be back, and if he believes he deserves to be back:
“For me, it’s all about just this game, to go back to the start, it’s all about this game, and we’ll talk about that tomorrow.”
On whether or not there was any conversation prior to the game with ownership in terms of how they wanted them to approach this week:
“Not at all. It just goes back to, look, anytime we step foot on the field, we want to win.”
On whether or not he had a conversation with the front office about the approach:
“No, I’m the head coach of the football team, and anytime we step foot on the field, we want to win.”
On the fact he didn’t wear the pin after he’s been seen wearing it for most of the season:
“No, no significance at all. I had a big coat on. It was kind of like the same thing last week, in Buffalo. It’s nothing about that. I apologize for not having it visible, but you can make a story about it if you want to.”
How does he reconcile – if he’s playing the game to win – not playing their number one quarterback for most of it:
“I think I’ve said all year, we need to see as the season goes on, what we actually have, and it was good to get Joe out there.”
On the fact that’s different from trying to do everything you can to win:
“We won the game, and Joe was our quarterback.”
On how proud he is of his coaching staff, the players, and everybody in the organization for just going through the year. AVP and Joe Milton did a handshake and a ‘whoop’ after his touchdown pass, and what that was like as far as seeing that through and also on just suming up the year as far as what they’ve been through as a group:
“It was great to see that handshake in a real game. We’ve seen it a lot in practice, and it all came together today, so it was great to see. I would say as far as the staff is concerned, just being able to push forward and be consistent. That’s all you can really ask.”
On the fact we saw Austin Cooper see a lot more action today with Hunter Henry out, along with the fact he had a catch that resulted in an additional incentive bonus, and if the goal was to help him get that bonus in the final game of the year:
“I’m not going to get into that. When you don’t have Hunter, who’s had a great year, Hooper, on any other team, Hooper is probably a number one. I should say three quarters of the team. Very good player and happy for him.”
On how he would best summarize the season and if he learned whether or not his team might be a little bit further away than he was anticipating:
” I’m not going to get into that. Like I said, tomorrow we’ll have a lot of time to talk about those things. But tonight it’s all about these guys going out there football game.”
“Thank you.”
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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.
Guess it wasn’t belichek