Jerod Mayo lauds the Patriots’ ‘next man up’ mentality after win over Jets
“We have a room full of guys with the mentality that we have to change the page every day.”
Patriots coach Jerod Mayo had high praise for his team’s “next man up” mentality after beating the Jets, 25-22, at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
That mind-set was on display from Jacoby Brissett, who stepped in after Drake Maye left the game with a concussion in the second quarter.
“You lose Drake [Maye] there early in the game, and I thought Jacoby was ready to go,” Mayo said after the game. “Was it perfect? No. But at the same time, I thought the operation was good. I thought he made some good throws, and we’ve just got to continue building on that.”
Maye was 3 of 6 for 23 yards passing and rushed for 46 yards and a touchdown before his early exit. In Maye’s absence, Brissett threw for 132 yards on 15-of-24 passing and rushed for 11 yards.
Mayo spoke with Maye at halftime, and the young quarterback wanted to go back out and finish the game, but Mayo stressed that he’ll have to go through concussion protocol before returning. Maye’s status for next week’s game against Tennessee is unclear.
On the hit that took the rookie QB out of the game, Maye had just begun a slide at the end of an 18-yard scramble. Mayo said the officials’ decision to not throw a flag was “questionable.”
“I had conversations with [the officials] the entire game,” Mayo said. “I thought some of those calls were questionable, but I have to go back and watch the film, and we’ll have those conversations.”
With Maye sidelined, Brissett led the winning drive that went 70 yards on 12 plays and ended in a 1-yard touchdown run from Rhamondre Stevenson.
“Rhamondre is one of our best players,” Mayo said. “I haven’t backed down from that at all.”
The Patriots’ safeties had to approach the game with a similar mentality after Kyle Dugger appeared on the injury report late in the week with an ankle injury and wound up inactive. Mayo said he thought the rest of the already-thin safety room stepped up in his place.
“[Jonathan] Jones is a guy we talk about versatility in our personnel,” Mayo said. “He knows every single spot, every single location. I thought Marte [Mapu] did a good job as far as controlling the huddle and communicating overall. Those guys played well.
“To go back to the next man up, not to sound cliché or redundant, but that’s the mentality that we have to have if we want to build what we want to build.”
Mayo got some pushback in the media last week after saying his team played “soft,” but he said Sunday that the noise didn’t bother him and he never questioned the resilience of his players.
“We have a room full of guys with the mentality that we have to change the page every day,” Mayo said. “Every day is a new day, and we have to get better and understand that practice is the most important thing we do until we get to the games.”
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