Jashvina Shah reports Jerod Mayo was a guest on WEEI's Mut & Merloni show, discussing his leadership role, good conditioning and more.
"[Dont'a Hightower and Chandler Jones] are coming out ready to work [and] that’s all you can ask," Mayo said. "Those guys come out and work hard, both in the classroom and on the field. Being one of the older guys I just try to lead by example. We have great coaches they can learn from and [they've] got to work hard."
"The goal is to get better, obviously," Mayo said. "We have a lot of talent on our team, but at the same time we have a lot of new faces, so communication is huge. Going out there and competing each and every play is huge. It’s just getting used to the coaches and things like that, especially for these young guys. That’s a big part of the offseason." Added Mayo: "It was difficult at first but that comes back to communication — knowing who you’re on the field with and things like that. I think it was good for us."
"We still did some work," Mayo said. "I don’t think it was a total day off [on the last day of mini-camp]. We got some things done. I think he knows everyone’s been working hard, so guys are going to continue to work hard. It wasn’t a full day off, but it was a pleasant surprise."
"This is a time where you get the edge on everyone else," Mayo said. "You’re going to have some guys who go home and just eat their way out of the league, and you have those guys who go out there and grind and work hard. Just get ready for training camp, that’s the goal."
Andy Hart joins the Sports Tonight crew to talk about his three real concerns for the Patriots heading into the season.
1. Devin McCourty and the Patriots secondary. "[McCourty was the difference last year, he fell of the map. Not only wasn't he a Pro Bowl corner, he wasn't competitive. He wasn't good. I think if he wan't a team captain, a first round pick he wouldn't have been on the field late in the year. What's he going to be in Year [3]? I don't want to be Mr. Doom and Gloom, but in training camp so far I've seen him get beat deep by Brandon Lloyd, I've seen him struggling to make plays in the end zone."
2. Pass rush. "Where does it come from? People forget it was a bad defense last year with two guys who had ten sacks … both those guys right now aren't on the team. There's a lot of excitement, Chandler Jones, Jake Bequette, all these guys, but are you going to get a Pro Bowl player out of that? Because Andre Carter was a Pro Bowl player last year who still may be back when he's healthy. He's still healthy and I still think there's a good chance he plays for them, but is that only midseason?"
3. Offensive tackle. "The only thing that can keep this offense from being the best in the NFL in my opinion with Lloyd and with the tight ends, is the tackle situation. And that's a question mark right now. Matt Light had a phenomenal year, he was sort of the patchwork to get to Solder. They drafted him to be the left tackle. He's going to get the shot this year. But is he going to be great? Is he going to keep Tom Brady clean? And on the other side I think there's a major concern because Vollmer had the back surgery in college, now this is two years in a row the back is still an issue."
TEAM TALK
- Paul Perillo and Andy Hart debate which WR will get the most receiving opportunities in 2012.
- Patriots T Marcus Cannon and former Patriots players bring Free Youth Clinic to Worcester.
- Patriots Charitable Foundation donates $100,000 in the names of Myra Kraft Community MVPs.
- Patriots Today - Making the most of the offseason. (2.27 min. video)
- Patriots All Access - The crew catches up with Zoltan Mesko in Romania, talks with former Colts RB Joseph Addai and much more. (18.53 min. video)
- Patriots Roster Report - The PFW crew breaks down the latest roster moves, including the signing of TE Jake Ballard. (11 min. program)
LOCAL LINKS
- Mike Petraglia believes that barring injury, no one is going to touch the Patriots in the AFC this year. No one.
- Mike Reiss offers some quick-hit weekend thoughts from the Patriots and around the NFL. A few interesting nuggets worth a look here.
- Karen Guregian sees a solid linebacker foundation in the making for the Patriots, especially with Mayo, Spikes and Hightower.
- Mike Reiss, Mike Rodak and Field Yates each elaborate on one position battle that intrigues them the most.
- Christopher Price tells us how he sees the 2012 Patriots starting to come into focus.
- Jeff Howe analyzes the WR position battle after minicamp.
- Jim Donaldson tells the Patriots to show Wes Welker the money.
- Jeff Howe reports WR Jeremy Ebert faces a daunting numbers game, as teams simply don't employ three slot receivers on 53-man rosters.
- Field Yates shares five things we learned at OTAs and minicamp.
- Jeff Howe comes up with five things that we've learned from the nine weeks of offseason workouts.
- Mike Giardi says that with The Law Firm taking his practice to Cincinnati, the young RBs look to lead the ground assault this fall. (1.55 min. video)
- Field Yates notes there were multiple Pats players that made the Scouts, Inc most-versatile players list in the AFC.
- Jeff Howe gives us a health check on who didn't participate in mini-camp.
- Field Yates shares Mel Kiper's analysis of the 2012 Draft class as it relates to the Patriots.
- Christopher Price updates us on the status of the Patriots' rookie contracts.
- Mark Farinella says Bill Belichick doesn't alter his gameplan for anybody.
- Mike Reiss highlights an ESPN Insider piece that analyzes the Gronkowski deal and concludes that it's a win for the Patriots.
- Tony Massarotti believes that Boston is still the best sports town in America, and that no one else really compares.
- Mark Farinella notes that over the 12 seasons of Bill Belichick's tenure in New England, the team has gained a reputation as being the Last Chance Saloon of the NFL.
- Rich Levine notes Bill Belichcik may be way ahead of his time on the field, but he's way behind it in the office.
- Mike Rodak revisits LaDainian Tomlinson's history vs. the Patriots.
- Will O'Toole says Bill Belichick may be the greatest Giants coach after helping New York win two Super Bowls.
- Tom E. Curran reports Tom Brady laughingly laments Giselle's Super Bowl defense.
- Mary Paoletti tells us Tom Brady joined Joe Montana, Steve Young, Aaron Rodgers, and Jim Plunkett on Friday for a charity event.
- The AP reports as Tom Brady reflects on the loss of his mentor and preps for 2012.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Kevin Fishbain (Pro Football Weekly) Dowling's return brings positive impact to Patriots' secondary.
- Darin Gantt (ProFootballTalk) Patriots counting on Dowling finally being healthy.
- James Walker (ESPN) On AFC East's major shift to 4-3 defenses.
- Gary Myers (NY Daily News) Signing Jake Ballard away from NY Giants shows Patriots coach Bill Belichick is blue with envy.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Eli "shocked" by loss of Ballard to Patriots.
- Peter King (SI) MMQB: Analyzing Tomlinson's career, Saints' appeal, Banks' comeback.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL making coaches film available to the public.
- Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) A guide to the NFL player's 'summer vacation'.
- Butch Stearns & Kerry Byrne (Cold Hard Football Fact) Prime numbers: The stats that win and lose NFL games. (5.56 min. video)
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL makes less than 200 pages available in bounty case.
- Mike Freeman (CBS Sports) Once final appeals are heard, and rejected, Bountygate will be over.