Jerod Mayo made it clear since he took over as Patriots head coach that he is completely different from Bill Belichick, but the goal still remains the same.
There seemed to be a new tone for New England in the offseason with how Mayo interacted with the media and the player-friendly attitude he and his staff seemed to adopt. That intensified when the franchise’s massive amount of cap space was primarily used to re-sign core players.
Mayo wanted to reward players and staff for their work, and there was concern from outsider observers that the Patriots were getting “softer” without Belichick on the sideline. But that couldn’t be further from the truth, according to the first-year head coach.
“The first five days, that’s the acclimation period that every team has to go through,” Mayo told Kay Adams on “Up and Adams” on Monday. “There’s a narrative out there that I’m a player’s coach. Look, they can say whatever they want to say. For me, it’s about accountability. It’s about these guys being professionals. It’s not about a bunch of rules.
“You’re a professional. Take ownership of your career and let’s go out here and ball out. And if you as an individual play well, then your respective side of the ball is gonna play well and that leads to the team playing well. I try to challenge the guys with that.”
When asked by Adams if he doesn’t want to be labeled as a “player’s coach,” Mayo added: “I wanna be known as a great coach. That’s what it comes down to, and what lever I decide to pull to get these guys going, I mean, that’s part of the skill set that I feel pretty strongly.”
Mayo had his hands full this week when he got into a public rift with Matthew Judon, who expressed dissatisfaction with his contract. That will be one of many obstacles for Mayo to contend with as he hopes to get the Patriots back to a winning atmosphere.
