FOXBORO, Mass. — Wednesday was a busy day for the Patriots and their new head coach.
Jerod Mayo was formally introduced as New England’s 15th head coach. He now is the youngest head coach in the NFL and the first Black head coach in Patriots history.
Mayo and Robert Kraft both delivered statements before taking questions from a large group of reporters. Much was said about the current state of the franchise and its future, and we covered most of it throughout the day.
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However, we have some leftover thoughts from the event that didn’t make it into separate stories. Some are directly related to the hiring of Mayo; some aren’t.
Let’s get into it:
1. The Mac Jones dynamic was weird
A group of past and current Patriots attended Mayo’s presser, and most made sense. Ja’Whaun Bentley is the leader of the defense. Joe Cardona likely will be the special teams captain if Matthew Slater retires. Josh Uche is a pending free agent but is very close with Mayo. Devin McCourty is Devin McCourty.
And then there was Jones, who felt like the elephant in the room. He surely knows there’s a chance the Patriots either trade him or draft his successor (or both) this offseason, but he attended Mayo’s coronation anyway. And he stood there as Mayo and Kraft delivered non-answers to questions about how the franchise would fix its offense and handle the quarterback position.
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However, after Jones left the room, Mayo seemingly spilled the beans during an interview with WBZ-TV’s Steve Burton.
“We’re gonna draft the best player for a position that’s very important,” Mayo said with a laugh. “You put the pieces together.”
Had Mayo said that 30 minutes earlier, it would’ve been the story of the day.
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2. Where was Jonathan Kraft?
Amid reports of his increased meddling and desire for a more prominent role in football operations, Kraft was nowhere to be found. When the Patriots first announced the Mayo news conference, the official release said Kraft would be seated at the table alongside his father, Robert, and Mayo. But he was a no-show.
When asked about his son’s absence, Robert pointed toward Jonathan’s role as president of the Kraft Group, which is a holding company for multiple organizations other than the Patriots.
“Jonathan had planned to be here today,” Kraft said. “He really is running all of the Kraft Group companies, and something has come up today that was really important. … He’s helping me on an overall basis in the ownership position and would have been here, but one of the other companies had an issue that was critical, and he’s dealing with that.”
We’ll have to take Robert at his word, and we don’t want to jump to conclusions when there really could be a serious issue with one of Kraft’s companies.
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That said, in hindsight, we probably should’ve asked why Jonathan wasn’t at Bill Belichick’s farewell event, either.
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3. Kraft and Mayo had very different answers on race
Kraft: “I’m really colorblind in terms of I know what I feel like on Sunday when we lose. … I want to get the best people I can get. I chose the best head coach for this organization. He happens to be a man of color. But I chose him because I believe he’s best to do the job.”
Mayo, seconds later: “I do see color because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism. … What I would say is, no, I want you to be able to go up to those people and really understand those people. It goes back to whatever it is, Black, white, yellow, it really doesn’t matter, but it does matter so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have.”
It still is hard to tell whether Mayo simply was building upon Kraft’s thoughts, or deliberating contradicting his boss. Regardless, it was a moment that illustrated Mayo’s willingness to speak his mind.
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4. The Gillette Stadium field is undergoing major changes
We don’t exactly what’s going on, but the field clearly is being replaced. Work on the project began shortly after the season finale and significant progress has been made.
Maybe the Patriots are switching to natural grass amid league-wide complaints about the dangers of artificial turf. That, along with the upcoming addition of a new weight room, could be part of a combined effort toward luring free agents in a new era.
That’s pure speculation, though.
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5. The new hospitality space is really, really nice
Officially named the “Globalization Partners Atrium,” the new multi-use space is very impressive. The glass-enclosed facility is one of the products of last year’s expansive Gillette Stadium renovation project.
The Atrium didn’t get as much publicity as the new lighthouse or the massive new video board. But, pound-for-pound, it might be the standout addition to One Patriot Place.
6. Mayo is talking the talk with reporters
But will he walk the walk?
Between the question-and-answer portion and an extended time slot for TV interviews, Mayo walked around the room to great family members, friends and other colleagues. It was relatively informal, as few cameras were rolling and nobody was recording audio.
At one point, he shook hands with a small group of reporters who cover the Patriots regularly. Mayo, unprompted, promised to be different than Belichick when dealing with the media. He said it’s important to have a “good relationship” with reporters and assured writers they could publish “negative articles” without fear of blowback. It was a nice and appreciated touch, one that continued the emerging theme of the franchise distancing itself from Belichick.
Whether the Patriots will improve under Mayo remains to be seen. But it probably is safe to say the franchise will look, sound and feel very different.
Featured image via Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports Images
