PATRIOTS COACH JEROD MAYO MAKING BIG TRAINING CAMP CHANGE FROM BILL BELICHICK ERA
When new head coach of the New England Patriots Jerod Mayo leads the Pats into Cincinnati on September 8th, 2024, it will be the first Patriots game coached by someone other than Bill Belichick since Pete Carroll still occupied the job on the final day of the 1999 regular season. This is all to say that a new era is ahead in Foxborough, and it’s quickly becoming evident that Mayo intends to make his mark on this franchise that has long done things Belichick’s The Patriot Way.
Although it may seem like a minor tweak in comparison to the many other ways the Patriots will operate differently without Bill Belichick, one area where Jerod Mayo is doing things a little differently than his predecessor is with the Patriots training camp schedule. According to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, Mayo will be moving practice times back by 90 minutes, which in the summer months means practices will be held in temperatures that are probably 10-15 degrees warmer than Patriots players have grown accustomed to.
“One example of how Mayo is putting his own stamp on the Patriots is what time they plan to practice in training camp — 11 a.m. ET. Under Belichick in his final stretch of seasons, the team practiced at 9:30 a.m. Perhaps now there is a little more time for meetings before practice, and temperatures will rise a bit and test the team’s conditioning.”
Early returns on Jerod Mayo out of New England have been positive, although not much is expected out of New England this year. In his first go-round as a head coach, Mayo will be leading a young and inexperienced team that features fewer than half a dozen players over the age of 30, a far departure from what life was like in New England under Bill Belichick. But with plenty of cap space in 2025 and no shortage of promise from some of their younger players, the Patriots could be on the upswing… if Jerod Mayo turns out to be the right man for the job, which former Patriots backup quarterback Brian Hoyer believes he is.
“I played with Jerod. I came in a year after he did and he was a leader already as a second-year player,” Hoyer said during a recent NFL Live appearance. “Jerod coming right after Bill [Belichick] — he learned from Bill, but he’s also bridging that gap to the youth. He has his own flavor and personality. Talking to some of the guys [with the team now], they love the way he’s approaching it. You just have to carry that over to wins during the season.”
Can Jerod Mayo turn Patriots’ fortunes around?
Just a little over two months out from the start of the 2024 NFL season, the Patriots currently have the lowest projected win total, 4.5 games, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Fans in New England have been spoiled in the 21st century, with six Super Bowl titles and nine appearances in the big game, but in three of the last four seasons, the Pats have finished under .500. In all likelihood, we’ll be able to make that four of the last five seasons when the 2024 campaign is finished.
However, there is hope lying ahead. As mentioned before, the Patriots will have a lot of money to spend in the spring of 2025, and if that coincides with Drake Maye being ready to step in and grab ahold of the starting quarterback job, New England’s rebuild could be fast-tracked.
With veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett on the roster, it’s possible that the Patriots will slow-play Maye’s development and allow Brissett to begin the season as the starting quarterback. At least that’s the way Brian Hoyer sees it playing out.
“The Patriots signed Jacoby to be the starter right away, knowing they were drafting a quarterback with that pick, because he’s capable and played a lot of football. He’s very endearing to his teammates; they love him. He’s the perfect guy to mentor Drake Maye.”
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2024-06-30T19:16:49Z dg43tfdfdgfd
