After an offseason that brought about the departures of a multitude of veterans, from Rodney Harrison to Tedy Bruschi to Mike Vrabel to Richard Seymour, the Patriots struggled to establish the cohesiveness that helped them achieve so much success defensively during Bill Belichick's reign as head coach.
Third-year linebacker Jerod Mayo noticed, too, and he's ready to do something about it.
According to The Boston Globe, Mayo — who was one of many young players to attend the Patriots' first optional offseason workouts of the year — is seizing the opportunity to establish himself as a leader, and it all starts with offseason workouts.
"Conditioning is a big part of football," Mayo told the Globe. "We lost a lot of games in the fourth quarter [in 2009], and that's one thing that we have to change and that starts now."
Many members of the Patriots — particularly the young ones — are using the optional workouts to lift weights, watch film and build relationships as teammates.
Mayo is doing his part to encourage that camaraderie.
"I think I can definitely step up my game as far as being a vocal leader on this team," Mayo said. "Last year, I was still a second-year player. I still tried to lead by example, but this year, I think losing guys like Junior [Seau] and Tedy Bruschi, even though that was a couple of years ago, I think it was a void as far as having that vocal guy on this team in general."
Last year, Mayo may have been a little too young and inexperienced to become the leader he wanted to be. This year, that won't be the case.
"I think this year is the year when guys can really step up and say what they have to say," Mayo said. "It's a young team as a whole, and the young guys will listen."
