Julian Edelman Sees This Bill Belichick Quality In Patriots’ Jerod Mayo

Julian Edelman spent eight seasons with Jerod Mayo during their respective playing careers with the New England Patriots.

Both men now enable the game in prominent roles, with Edelman starring in media through his “Games With Names” podcast and working with the NFL on FOX. Mayo gets set to make the jump from his previous role as an assistant after being named the 15th head coach in Patriots history, succeeding his former boss — Bill Belichick.

While Mayo already instilled several aspects of his culture that differ from his predecessor, Edelman already sees similarities between the two Patriots leaders.

“I’m excited for Jerod,” Edelman shared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday. “I just saw what he said about Drake Maye. … You can see he’s already started to use that Belichick tone when he addressed the media about Drake Maye that he has a lot to work on. You can see that he’s using that.”

The Patriots enter the season with a young team that needs to develop its young core to build for future success. Edelman believes Mayo’s high football IQ prepares him well to lead the way for the Patriots as the head coach.

“He was one of the smartest football players I played with,” Edelman shared. “I had that little stint where I played defense. I always knew what I had to do. I just needed to confirm it with Jerod every play because that’s the kind of guy Jerod was. He could be able to put everyone in position. He was always great in the locker room. He’s a great leader. He could communicate with everyone. I think he’s going to bring something different than what Bill had. The way he communicates is going to be different. He’s probably going to be more like a leader or a captain coming down and talking to a young buck.”

The 2024 season certainly shapes up to be one of a different type of feeling around Foxboro for the Patriots, much to the intrigue of their legends of the past.

“It’s going to be insane to watch,” Edelman added.