Jerod Mayo Takes Page Out Of Bill Belichick’s Book In Presser
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo catches some flak for the way he approaches press conferences, so he decided to take things in a different direction Friday.
It’s almost as if he was following the lead of his former boss, Bill Belichick.
Mayo opened his press conference with a long monologue (nearly three minutes) about the New York Jets, detailing each phase of their team and covering topics such as Aaron Rodgers, Thomas Morstead, their ability to cover kicks and… his love for Quinnen Williams.
“I’m excited for another opportunity to go out on the practice field and get better,” Mayo began, per team-provided video. “We have a huge challenge in front of us in the Jets, and really starts it with the quarterback. He’s done it for a long time, he’s one of those guys that has 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, is a very difficult challenge. I would also say, the (running) backs. It starts with (Breece) Hall, just one of those guys that, whether you know you’re talking about the pass game or the run game, is a very explosive player. One thing I told the guys was, ‘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, and, obviously, they have some good receivers as well. And anytime you add a piece to the puzzle, (Davante) Adams is 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. And you know, we always talk about marrying up the rush, with the with the coverage, and also in the run game, making sure that we’re in our right alignments.
It’s all hats to the ball defensively for those guys, they’re a very disruptive, very disruptive group. It’ll probably get even more disruptive with the addition (of Haason Reddick) on the edge. It starts with the edge players, and really, (Quinnen Williams), like, 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 just one of those guys that, as you watch the film, continues 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, but you know, 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. And then, obviously, special teams is always one of those things that we expect to go out there and play hard, play tough, and those guys definitely take a lot of pride in their special teams. (Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein) has been doing it for a long time, (punter Thomas) Morstead, all those guys have been very productive in this league for an extended period of time, so we got to have a good day today, and then really, it comes down to win the game on Sunday, think that’s what we need as a team, and that’s what we expect every time we step out onto that field.
Did you catch all that?
Mayo, in case you were wondering, spit out over 500 words before he was ever asked a question, which is something Belichick did on a weekly basis during the latter years of his tenure in New England.
Mayo was actually asked a few questions and had a few moments where he essentially elected not to answer. Mark Daniels of MassLive asked about wide receiver K.J. Osborn’s comments from one day earlier and said he’d keep conversations with his player in-house — a change, for certain.
“Friday Bill” was a thing for a reason, so perhaps Mayo is looking to turn into “Friday Jerod” with his own monologues before skirting questions that he doesn’t feel like answering.