Head Coach Jerod Mayo 9/29: "We have to fix all the bad football, and that's my job"

Jerod Mayo (0:00)

Disappointing game. I thought we had a good week of practice. I thought the guys had a lot of energy all week. I'm not gonna say anything about the travel. I thought the guys were prepared and ready to go. Obviously, we didn't hit some of the targets that we talked about. Defensively, keeping the quarterback in the pocket continues to be an issue. Offensively, the turnovers, we don't have a team that can lose the turnover battle and expect to win a football game. We gotta do a better job with the turnovers. We have to do a better job with the negative plays. And just overall, we just had to be good. I will say, special teams wise, I thought Sly did a good job. I thought the protection was good. The coverage was good. We had a special teams turnover. I thought all that stuff was good. What I told the guys, look, it is a long season. It is a long season. And we're wrapping up the first quarter of the season. I don't think any of us are happy where we are. I think when we go back and watch the film though, it'll be easy to identify so we can put ourselves in a better position to win football games. We sustained a few injuries to some warriors out there today. Some big injuries, well, not big, but big in as far as who it was. Those guys will come in tomorrow and do their injury check. So I'm not sure how serious or not serious the injuries are, but those guys that couldn't finish the game obviously are a big part of what we do.

SPEAKER_2 (1:11)

I think with all the hits that Jacobi keeps taking in this offense, with the little time he has, you feel maybe there may be something to switch and kind of ignite their offense that way when you go home.

Jerod Mayo (1:23)

Well, I think there's a combination of, you know, schematically, we got to do a better job of getting the ball out of our hand right now. And then secondly, I would say the offensive line just has to do a better job holding up in protection. And we're trying to find different ways to do it. You know, in some of those, you know, it's easy on some of those sacks. You go back and watch the film, the ball should be out. It'd be easy for you guys and everyone else to say, well, the offensive line should have did that. So I wouldn't rush to that conclusion. But we got to coach better, we got to play better and execute.

SPEAKER_3 (1:51)

So I've been given the fact that two straight games with little offensive production and really it's been that way.

Jerod Mayo (1:56)

Would you consider a change in quarterback? Look, at this point, Jacoby is our starting quarterback. I haven't watched any film or anything like that. He's been a great leader. He just broke the huddle down after I talked to the guys. And we got to watch the film. We have a long flight to go back and watch the film. And we're always evaluating every single position.

SPEAKER_4 (2:13)

Jerod, you mentioned the edge being a problem on defense. It's something you've said the last couple of weeks. Do you need to change what you're doing coaching-wise to correct that?

Jerod Mayo (2:22)

Yeah, it's a frustrating thing. You know, sometimes you tell guys over and over and over, look, the stove's hot, the stove's hot, and they still touch the stove. So today, it was just mere, like, if you were to ask me last week, maybe some of that was, you know, as far as the play calling who were asking the Aussie out. But today, and the players will tell you, like, it's on them to go out there and set the edge. This is your job. Do your job and we'll be okay.

SPEAKER_4 (2:43)

And if they don't do it, does it need to get to the point where they're just not having an opportunity?

Jerod Mayo (2:48)

Yeah, 100%, 100%. You know, we always talk about these guys are competing and we'll be evaluated every single day, every single week. And look, we want our most dependable players out there, especially when it's a huge target. But we have targets on our back. Can't keep the quarterback in the pocket. Can't take control of the football. And so we're going to deal with it until we fix it. And it starts with me.

SPEAKER_3 (3:10)

Jerod, first possession of the game, you guys have 3rd and 3 on their 41, go incomplete and then punt it away. Why punt that and stuff going forward?