Head Coach Jerod Mayo 11/3: "We have to be better, I have to be better"

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Pats from the Past. Tune in as Matt Smith and Paul Perillo offer in-depth interviews with some of the greatest players and coaches in New England Patriots history.

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Joined by the newest member of the Patriots Hall of Fame, Mike Ravel.

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Find out what led to some of the greatest moments in franchise history and unique behind-the-scenes insight.

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And pleased to be joined by former Patriot quarterback Brian Hoyer. Joined by number 37 on your scorecard, but number one in our hearts at least, Rodney Harrison.

Jerod Mayo (0:23)

Good to be home, good to see you guys.

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Jerod Mayo (0:30)

Good afternoon. Obviously disappointed in the outcome of the game. We had our chances. We always talk about it's not just one play. It's not the interception. It's not going for two. There are multiple plays that happen within a game that can change the tide of it. At the time, I felt like that was the right thing to do. It's easy to make a judgment one way or the other, but I thought that was the right thing to do at the time. I will say this, I thought the team went out there and they fought. Being on the road, in this environment, I will say just a shout out to the fans that traveled. I felt like we had a lot of fans that traveled. You could hear them, you could hear them supporting us. Too bad we let them down. We got to be better. I have to be better. Coaches have to be better. We go back to the drawing board. Have to be able to run the football. Obviously, that was disappointing. I think Drake was probably our leading rusher today. You never really want your quarterback to be the leading rusher, and that's in all facets. We got to be able to move guys off the line. I thought their defensive line did a good job. They were hard to handle inside, especially 98 And we knew that coming into the game. And we just got to be able to stand. Every team that we play, they're going to have either good edge rushers or good interior rushers. We just got to do a better job getting those guys off the ball. Defensively again, leaky run defense. There were times where it goes back to fundamentals. We spent a lot of time talking about the X's and O's, but I thought the tackling still needs to improve. That's part of it.

But we went into the game also saying special teams was going to make a play. Had to make plays and we had the big returns by Marcus.

Those guys out there are blocking for them. Too bad we let this one slip away.

SPEAKER_4 (2:20)

Jerod, I think obviously the disappointing loss, but I think the entire NFL is talking about the 12 seconds that Drake had running around and through the game-time touchdown. Just your thoughts on what you saw from him.

Jerod Mayo (2:32)

Yeah, just mental toughness and the ability to make plays with his legs, which he has shown before. Gave us a chance to win the game. Obviously, just didn't pull it through.

SPEAKER_5 (2:44)

Jerod, his running around and kind of tiredness that looked like after factor in to not going for two there?

Jerod Mayo (2:50)

I'm not going to get in. I don't want to get into that. It's a good question. I just don't want to get into it now.

SPEAKER_6 (2:56)

Two weeks ago, you said that the production in the run game was sort of a mentality thing. Do you still feel that way? Or what do you think is preventing the run game from finding its way?

Jerod Mayo (3:04)

I've always felt that stopping the run and running the ball starts with your attitude. It starts with your attitude. It starts with your mentality.

And we just have to do better on both sides of the ball.

SPEAKER_7 (3:13)

Jerod, would you think of the decision by Drake on the run game?

Jerod Mayo (3:18)

Look, he's a guy out there trying to make a play. He's trying to make a play. And I think sometimes, as well as he has played, sometimes we forget how young he is. And he's going to continue to develop, and he'll be a good quarterback in this league. And we'll all learn from this, myself included.

SPEAKER_8 (3:32)

Jerod, what did you learn about him today?

Jerod Mayo (3:34)

Just, well, we already knew it, but I think the obvious thing is just his mental toughness and ability to really change the page and being a resilient player. That's a great quality to have as a quarterback. And he's a good competitor.