Head Coach Jerod Mayo: "I'm just focused on the guys in the room." | Patriots Press Conference

hoping um well a little rainy day I think it'll be good for the players to come out here and continue to work on their fundamentals um now that the grass is slick obviously you'll probably see some people on the ground and there'll be great teaching moments I know um you know what all you guys want to know one thing I did learn from bill is I just I don't talk about players on other team so just let me go ahead and say that now but I remember as a player you know I appreciated that I appreciated that the only opinions that mattered were inside the walls and so so I'm still trying to apply that now uh going forward can you confirm it all that there's you know talks ongoing um look I'll be honest with you that's more of an Elliott question um right now I'm just focused on the guys out here the New England Patriots do you guys how do you feel about the the wide receiver Group after a couple weeks you feel like you still need upgrade there oh those guys are those guys are working hard um they're getting better every day now from Elliott and my perspective we're always trying to get better no matter what position we're talking about no matter how those those guys get here whether it's through Cuts or through trades or whatever we're always looking to improve our team and win now there is there multiple reports out there that the 49ers have negotiated a trade offer with you guys about Brandon auk and that they've allowed him to speak to you guys so don't think it falls into tampering or anything but so can you confirm that uh I I can't you know like I said earlier I'm just focused on the guys in the in the room so you hear what Matthew Jud had to say with us yesterday uh any comments on what he had to say judon is doing what he has to do he's out here every day he's in pads uh he'll be in pads today as well he's doing everything in the meeting rooms and look it was a hiccup and I feel like we're on the same page and we're moving forward when when a player's attitude is I'm just doing what I need to do so I don't get fined is that good for the team right now look I mean every day it's its own day like sometimes I come to work and I don't feel like talking at all either both as a player and also as a coach so it's dayto day and what I will say about judon he always brings great energy to the practice field brings great energy in the locker room and and that is the expectation that he said early on and I I don't see it any different now with d is it your understanding the team's approach with his negotiations is it all affected by other negotiations you might be having through your conversations with other no all of those conversations are independent of each other so I guess answer your question hopefully hopefully I hope so you're not waiting on another move before you do anything with Judah everything is its own independent move and that's how we look at it J what is the plan for Drake in that Thursday's opener uh Drake will play Drake will play and you know when he gets the game we'll we'll talk about that but he will play in the game look everyone who is healthy enough to play in the game will play in the game that's more than you've ever gotten before that's very true and I appreciate it U how much not sure not now you're going too far do you envision all four quarterbacks playing uh so as of today like that's the plan to have all those guys out there playing and once again it goes back to competing so yesterday you know you guys saw the live tackling period and things like that that I think is very important and you don't want want the first time these guys have to get hit or hit someone else to be in the preseason game so we got to see what these guys can do with live action have you talked a contract offer been made to Matthew judon um I I'm not going to discuss his a contract situation like ellot you know has been I'd say aggressive trying to improve this team throughout the offseason some things you know haven't worked but it seems like he's doing everything and one how much do you like his approach and two how much are you guys on the same page with what you know you're trying to build yeah I I love Elliot's approach to getting better once again like on the outside we don't have a chance but we're always trying to get the team better and Elliott and his staff grow those guys have been doing a good job identifying pieces uh that'll help us win down we've been on the same page for a long time even before I got this role and before he got his role uh we've had a good relationship since since then and our philosophy is to marry important is it do you think go ahead go oh you picking up on that it's like being at the stop sign who's going to go first all right here we go you use the word collaborative a lot the draft process does that apply as well to roster cutdowns when you guys reach the final 53 the players you want in this 100% And I would also say the assistant coaches and Elliott and the rest of his staff also have a say ultimately Elliott and I have to make a final call but we we try to stay collaborative in that approach knowing you guys are always trying to get better as you've said is there additional urgency to try to improve the roster because you have a Young quarterback I know we're not sure when he's actually going to play but is there urgency on the team's end and to make sure you're giving him the best environment possible yeah there's always a sense of urgency to get good players and you know everyone talks about young quarterbacks and surrounding them with good players look we got we have a an older quarterback and we want to surround him with good players as well and we're going to put the best product or the best team out there that we can yesterday we saw Keon white and I want to say was Jah Farms taking Snaps at fullback is that a plan for the season going in or is that just kind of a try it's kind of a experiment at this point in time remember Keon did play you know tight end in college as well so uh it's an experience experiment I just want to go back to what Mike was saying before so you gave us a lot as far as you know who's going to potentially play here in quarterback and when did The Players know that as well have you informed them sort of what they're going to be doing on Thursday night uh not at this time so they'll read it probably in one of your articles or something like that but but the expect once again though the expectation is that everyone's always going to play like we don't want to just sit people out and you know and kind of lose an opportunity to go out there with live bullets fly probably not a good analogy but that's how I think about it so you want J Kobe to start on Thursday night that's the plan and once again look I'm telling you guys this today I mean it could change as the week continues to progress but that is the plan D what were your theories on the live tackling portion that we saw at the end of practice Yeah that we need it know it goes into fundamentals like we can do all the scalloping and and thuing up that you want to it's a lot different trying to get a man to the ground so that was uh as far as our evaluation and competing we wanted to see who could actually do that you know sometimes you have those guys in shorts that kind of look great and then once it's time to put the shoulder pads on a tackle they just kind of disappear we're trying to kind of weed that out as far as roster competitions go and not just a quarterback but all positions how do you personally weigh practice versus preseason action yeah there's nothing more important that we do than practice and it's about the day after day after day trending in the right direction so look the preseason game whether to play a series a quarter a half like those are important as well but remember that's just straight like it's not really scheme like when we're out here on the football field and sorry the practice field it's a little bit more scheme a little bit more thinking so uh I think practice is the most important at time a player you do have on your roster Kendrick borne was uh prominently featured in some of these reports when players are involved in trade talks or rumors have you spoken to him or do you feel compelled to speak to him about it yeah you know honestly I did talk to him this morning and it was a good conversation and once again I feel like the story is so much further along than anything else I just wanted to make sure we cleared the air and I do believe in being transparent uh with the players and and really just setting those guys at ease you know the outside prognosticated of what they say or whatever as far as you guys are concerned players all the way through you know whether you acquire better players or what have you how good do you think this team can be right from the get-go especially if you acquire more talent I mean look I don't have a crystal ball we'll wait and see but what I will say is we'll be better as the season goes on I don't know if the first game we go out there and get beat or beat whoever we're playing I think teams are still trying to figure out their identity because now we only have three preseason games as well so you know we we'll see what happens you guys would have the season ticket holder practice in the stadium before the first preseason game and Bill would always use that he' said as kind of a practice run for not only the players but the coaching staff you guys won't get in there for the season ticket Aller practice before Thursday but have you had ample time in the stadium to go through that how do you feel about just the logistics of your staff that's a great question um we have gone through that and tomorrow we'll go through it as well we'll get the coaches up in the box and we'll just have a mock game substitutions all those things so we C it's a real you know it's a test for us but also you know it's something that we can probably improve and we'll see what how it uh plays out tomorrow sorry what about for you personally you've been the head coach here for 6 months now Thursday night get to see your team uh in the full uniform you get to put on the headset what what's it like for you I'm excited I'm excited to to be on the sideline and honestly I'm excited for the players to go out there and perform well so that's the main thing all right thanks guys appreciate it