Morning Sports Update
“If you have that skillset, to me that’s the most important thing.”
Jerod Mayo’s thoughts ahead of his first game as a head coach: The Patriots are preparing to formally begin a new era on Sunday when Jerod Mayo takes the sidelines as the New England head coach for the first time in the regular season.
Prior to the Week 1 kickoff on Sunday against the Bengals in Cincinnati, Mayo sat down with one of his players, Davon Godchaux, for an interview on the latter’s podcast, “Chaux Talk.”
“It was like drinking from a fire hydrant,” Mayo admitted of his first few months in the role. “Over the last couple of months, it’s been going the way that I thought it would. Now in saying that, I have a lot to learn. Each week is its own week. That’s my focus going forward.”
Along with a short discussion of fashion (a regular staple of Godchaux’s podcast), Mayo also offered an interesting take on how he views quarterbacks.
With the current questions hanging over Patriots opening day starter Jacoby Brissett (given the looming possibility of rookie first-round pick Drake Maye potentially making his debut later in the season), the Patriots coach made a point regarding a quarterback’s pocket presence and mobility.
“The game has changed with the extended plays,” Mayo said.
“I’m not talking about the Michael Vick-type, you know running down the field,” he added. “I’m talking about just extending plays. If you have that skillset, to me that’s the most important thing.”
Given the question marks on the offensive line, whoever is New England’s starting quarterback will likely have to showcase a capacity to extend plays.
And on the topic of relating to players, the 38-year-old Mayo shared his message about how he wants to develop talent with the Patriots.
“I think with this generation of players, first showing the individual you care about their growth and development, before anything else,” said Mayo. “We’re all competent as far as X’s and O’s are concerned. We’ve all had coaches we’d run through a brick wall for. We’ve also had that coaches where it’s like, ‘Forget that.’
“That’s always the balance. When you talk about trying to change a culture, it takes time. Really, your culture becomes what you reward.”
Scores and schedules:
The Red Sox lost to the Mets 8-3 on Wednesday, as New York completed the three-game sweep.
On Friday, the Red Sox will be back at Fenway Park for the start of a three-game series against the White Sox.
More from Boston.com:
Bill Belichick used to game plan for Jason Kelce: The former Eagles center reacted to hearing that the Patriots used to specifically game plan for an offensive lineman.
On this day: In 1927, a then-record crowd packed Fenway Park to watch a Red Sox-Yankees doubleheader. More than 34,000 saw a wild first game, as the Red Sox prevailed 12-11 in 18 innings. Hall of Fame pitcher Red Ruffing pitched 15 innings for Boston, holding Babe Ruth to a 1-for-7 performance (though Lou Gehrig hit his 44th home run of the season).
New York got its revenge in the second game, prevailing 5-0.
Daily highlight: Ginny Delacruz scored her first goal for the University of New Hampshire in style in a 2-0 win over Merrimack on Wednesday.
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