The Patriots’ head coach gave a deep dive into his team’s Week 8 opponent on Friday.
Friday was a blast from the past in the media workroom inside Gillette Stadium. Taking the podium for his traditional Friday press conference, New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo moved away from his typical approach to media availability.
Instead of quickly making himself available for questions, he opened the presser with a long breakdown of his team’s upcoming opponent, the New York Jets. This brought back memories of Mayo’s predecessor in New England: Bill Belichick, who coached the Patriots for 24 seasons before his departure in January, regularly dove into the team ahead.
The only true difference was Belichick typically doing it on Wednesday rather than Friday. Everything else, however, had a familiar feel to it.
In fact, reading the transcript of Mayo’s two-and-a-half-minute dialogue, one could imagine Belichick being the one to hold it.
“We have a huge challenge in front of us in the Jets, and really it starts with the quarterback,” Mayo said. “He’s done it for a long time. One of those guys that — he’s played at a very high level for an extended period of time, and can really do it all. Can move outside the pocket, can make all the throws.”
Mayo went on to speak about the challenge of containing New York’s running backs, led by Breece Hall, as well as the unity along the offensive line and the wide receiver talent particularly after the Davante Adams trade. The bottom line was that the unit presents a challenge even at 2-5 and three weeks after firing head coach Robert Saleh.
“They present a bunch of different problems for our defense, and we have to make sure that we’re all on the same page,” Mayo explained. “We always talk about marrying up the rush with the coverage, and also in the run game, making sure that we’re in our right alignments and all hats to the ball.”
Defensively, Mayo highlighted one player in particular: Quinnen Williams, who had a team-high five quarterback pressures in the team’s first meeting of the season in Week 3.
“It starts with the edge players and really 95, he’s a problem,” Mayo said about the Jets defense and Williams’ position in it. “He’s one of those guys that you can’t let him go out there and get started. He’s definitely a game wrecker. I’ve been a huge fan of his for a long time. He’s one of those guys that, as you watch film, continue to pop off the film.”
Mayo channeling his inner Bill Belichick did not come entirely out of nowhere. With frustration growing within the building, the first-year head coach set the tone earlier in the week when he claimed that “it’s all about the Jets, and we’re moving forward.”
Friday’s press conference was therefore a continuation of the no-nonsense message Mayo is trying to preach heading into Week 8. Whether or not this will result in the team breaking its six-game losing streak will be seen.
If nothing else, though, it added a familiar flavor to Mayo’s final press conference before the Jets come to town.
The full unedited transcript of Mayo’s introductory remarks on Friday reads as follows:
“Excited for another opportunity to go out on the practice field and get better. We have a huge challenge in front of us in the Jets, and really it starts with the quarterback. He’s done it for a long time. One of those guys that… He’s played at a very high level for an extended period of time, and can really do it all. Can move outside the pocket, can make all the throws. It’s a very difficult challenge defensively to try to contain. I would also say, the backs. I think the backs, let’s start with [Breece] Hall. Just one of those guys that whether you’re talking about the pass game or the run game, is a very explosive player.
“One thing I told the guys, look, we’re all at the point of attack when this guy has the ball in his hands, whether they throw it to him or it’s a handoff. Those guys up front for the Jets definitely work hand-in-hand, and do a good job moving people off the ball. Obviously, look, they have some good receivers as well. Anytime you add a piece to the puzzle in [Davante] Adams, a Hall of Fame player, it’s a problem. They present a bunch of different problems for our defense, and we have to make sure that we’re all on the same page. We always talk about marrying up the rush with the coverage, and also in the run game, making sure that we’re in our right alignments and all hats to the ball.
“Defensively for those guys, very disruptive, very disruptive group. It will probably get even more disruptive with the addition on the edge. They have some great edge players. Once again, it starts with the edge players and really 95 [Quinnen Williams], he’s a problem. He’s one of those guys that you can’t let him go out there and get started. He’s definitely a game wrecker. I’ve been a huge fan of his for a long time. He’s one of those guys that, as you watch film, continue to pop off the film. In saying that, they have a bunch of good players.
“Obviously, they’re dealing with injury situations in the back end. All teams at this stage are dealing with injury situations. Now, in saying that, they have guys that are ready to step in, and guys that have played for a long time, Jalen Mills being one of those guys that probably is expected to show up.
“Then, obviously, special teams is always one of those things that we expect to go out there and play hard, play tough. Those guys definitely take a lot of pride in their special teams. Kicker has been doing it for a long time. [Thomas] Morstead, all those guys have been very productive in this league for an extended period of time.
“We’ve got to have a good day today, and then really it comes down to winning the game on Sunday. I think that’s what we need as a team and that’s what we expect every time we step foot on the field.”