FOXBOROUGH — Jerod Mayo spoke to the media today ahead of tomorrow's first training camp practice. He didn't deny Matthew Judon and Davon Godchaux are in varying degrees of contract disputes with the team, Drake Maye has a chance to be the opening-day starter but Jacoby Brissett is the starter as of today, explained his reasoning for pushing the start of practices to 11 a.m. and many other topics. Here's the crux of what he said, and my take on what Mayo said:
"Everyone's here, everyone's here. Happy about that. These guys are ready to rock. It's a good thing."
In today's NFL, everyone reports to camp unless there are extreme circumstances, so this was a given. Even if you're in a contract dispute, you report and then say I'm not ready to practice."
On Judon and Godchaux ... "the relationship is still good, at least from my perspective, and I know their teammates, definitely respect them. Those are valuable pieces of this organization and have done a lot for us. And hopefully we can get something done and those guys are here. I want them here. Eliot wants him here. The team wants him here. Those guys, uh, you know, there is a business aspect to everything though. ... I'll reiterate, we want those guys here. And then we're going to do everything possible to keep those guys and I think it's good for the organization. And hopefully it works out"
So, yeah, the worst-kept secret - that Judon and Godchaux will not play on their current deals, as I have reported - is out of the bag. Mayo said something has to get done, there's a business aspect ... those guys want new deals. Both reported, which was expected. We'll have to see whether they take part in practice - if I had to guess, I would say Judon does but Godchaux does not - but that doesn't change the fact that they want something done to address their pay for the 2024 season.
I mean, coming out of the spring, I don't think there's any doubt Jacoby is the starting quarterback at this point in time. We can look at these other quarterbacks on the roster. At the same time, it's about competition. And so when we get out on the field this summer with the pads on, we'll see how it all plays out. But, you know, coming out of the spring, I mean, I think it's clear that Jacoby is the most pro-ready guy we have and played a lot of football.
This goes to any position, if (Maye) comes out here, he lights it up. And once again, it goes back to the quality of reps. It could absolutely happen. Like I sit here and tell you like coming out of the spring, Jacoby looks like the starting quarterback. Now with that being said, he'll have competition. Let's not forget about even Joe Milton. Let's not forget about Zappe. All those guys will have opportunities to go out there and be the starting quarterback and week one.
You've seen that (sitting the rookie) work in the past, right? You look at, you know, other quarterbacks, the Green Bay quarterbacks, right where they had a lot of time to ... But you look at those situations and they were able to sit back there are also been situations where a guy comes right in right now and he balls out. We'll see what happens when we get out here on the field.
To me, it goes back to the same word. And it's competition. It's not about everyone else. It's about does this guy go out there and perform better than Jacoby no matter who we're talking about. And so I mean, that's the way that's the way I kind of see it.
Jacoby Brissett is the starter until he either loses the job or Drake Maye flat-out beats him. The opening is there, obviously. But it's going to take a lot, I would say, both ways.
On whether any of the rookies stood out in the recent practice sessions ... "Yeah, honestly, it's kind of tough. You know, they didn't really do much. We didn't know what they actually were going to do at home because they are rookies. So it ended up being almost like a phase 2 day where a lot of agilities and going back to the evaluation process, like seeing how these guys came back from the break. So we'll see once we get out here and really compete.
No surprise either way here. Those workouts are just a re-acclimation process. Go back over the basics, make sure they are ready to go as far as conditioning for camp practices.
On the later practices ... Yeah, for me, I thought it was important that we had adequate meeting time in the morning, right before we touch the field. And honestly, I think the guys appreciate that. They want to make sure that they, you know, tighten all the screws and know exactly what to do on the field so their athleticism could take over. That was the mindset. And so when you have those earlier practices, and look we're in New England, we're not in New Orleans or anything like that. But you know, when you look at those earlier practices, it just takes a lot of time the night before, and you don't know if those guys really retain it the next day. And so I wanted to give those guys the opportunity to kind of brush up before they went on the field.
Probably my favorite answer Mayo gave. This is really good reasoning. I like it.
On Onwenu's position ... Yeah, I've had this conversation with AVP. I've also talked to Mike and the rest of those offensive linemen, but we're gonna put the best five players out there on the field as an offensive line. If that means you got to play guard and play tackle, I don't know. And we'll see, you know, it'll play itself out in camp. But that's my mindset. It's about putting the best players on the field.
Sounds like he's starting at guard but they'll take looks at tackle as well and go from there. Camp is a process. Things evolve. Let's see what happens.
On if Okorafor is the incumbent at LT ... Well, I would say right now, based on just you know, the time he's been in the league alone, he's gonna start there. But once again, like my mentality and our offensive mentality is to put the five best guys out there on the field, we'll see how it plays out.
He's clearly the best they have right now, but there's still going to be competition there. I don't see it changing unless there's an injury. Calvin Anderson, Caeden Wallace, Vederian Lowe and Tyrone Wheatley would be other options, but they are longshots. Anderson has the best chance. Has some experience there.
On a successful season ... Yeah, successful season, you know, in my eyes is really about the foundation like have we put together a good foundation of a combination of young and older players to really start, you know, competing. And, and honestly, it would be great to get up here and say, like, we're gonna win a Super Bowl. But once again, it's about the process. And I tell the guys all the time, it's about process and progress and moving forward. ... It looks like a winning football team. It looks like a tough, smart, dependable football team.
Would be nice to hear some talk about competing for the division and the postseason, but I'm fine with the answer.
On if they are open to improving the roster via trade ... We're always interested in getting the best players on our team. Now whatever that looks like, look, we're third on the waiver wire as well. There'll be some quality players that get released for various reasons and we'll have an opportunity to continue to improve our roster. So if you're gonna sit there and ask me, would we take a good player, no matter what position? Absolutely, absolutely, if it helps us get better, not only today, but also in the future to get back.
Trust me, Eliot Wolf is going to leave no stone unturned trying to get this roster better, be it trades or churning and burning the bottom on the roster through waiver claims throughout this season.
It may not be New Orleans, but it still gets hot and humid ... "I mean, it's all about you know, we talked about hydration and we take various measures all the time, we'll have the icebox outside. And we always have people tracking real time data throughout practice. And honestly, it's my job like if those guys end up looking like they're about to die like it's no problem and cutting practice, it's no problem. I will say this like practice won't be you know, two hours every single day or two and a half hours every single day. I believe in you know, kind of undulating the practice schedule continuing to confuse the body and, and really look we'll have an hour and 30 minute practice but it's going to be high intensity or we may have a two hour and 10 minute practice where there will be some slower periods it knows I think it's important to do that and change it up to break up the monotony a little bit."
More good stuff from Mayo. He's obviously given this stuff a lot of thought. I think respecting the players in this manner will go over real well and they'll recognize it.
I'm not gonna sit up here and act like I have all the answers. And once again there are people in my circle I have like a personal board that you know, I lean on those individuals for guidance and, look, I am gonna make mistakes I'm not gonna sit here and act like I'm just the most perfect guy. I will make mistakes and I will learn from those mistakes because I am not a repeat offender type of person.
But ultimately, and you guys should remember this, I have to make the decision. And so if it's a bad decision, feel free to rip me and not Evan Rothstein.
Good awareness from Mayo again. He's being honest and, in all honesty, he's tamping down expectations a little bit. A good move and to be expected.
Yeah, my message to the fans is, it's all about winning football games. I mean, that's what it comes down to, it comes down to winning football games. No matter what the expectation is from everyone outside this building, we're gonna go to work each and every day, and we're going to get better. And we're going to put a good product, a good team out there on the field that you'll be proud of. Now, whether that's tomorrow or next year, like I don't know. But I will say that this team, I like the way they're coming together.
I like the message about winning games, because that is the goal and that should be the bar. Wasn't crazy about him saying "whether that's tomorrow or next year, I don't know" ... No, that doesn't work for me. They need to be making progress, including winning games, immediately.
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In general, it the usual fare from Mayo. Had some good answers where he illustrated the thought he's put into this, but most of it was boiler plate stuff about competition and getting better.