Several members of the team were in attendance for Mayo’s introductory press conference.
As Jerod Mayo entered the G-P Atrium in the north end zone of Gillette Stadium to be introduced as the New England Patriots’ head coach on Wednesday, a sizable crowd awaited him.
It consisted of Mayo’s family, his former high school football coach, a large contingent of Patriots’ personnel members, media, and a handful of current players.
Among the players in attendance were defenders Ja’Whaun Bentley, Jonathan Jones, and Josh Uche, who all shared a similar sentiment of Mayo getting the job.
“My initial reaction? I mean, hyped. Hyped, for sure. This is your position coach. The guy who spent the most time with us as a defense and a full linebacker room,” captain Ja’Whaun Bentley explained.
“It’s great to see that you can do all the right things and work hard each and every day, whether you’re a player or coach, you can see the dividends play out. We’re glad to see the right thing happened. The right guy got the job.”
During his time as an assistant coach in New England, Mayo has connected well with the players and has often been described as a players coach. Once he was announced as the Patriots new lead man last week, the support among those on the roster was evident across social media — as well as on the coaches phone.
“When I was made official, my phone was buzzing off the hook,” Mayo said. “If I didn’t text some of the guys back. I apologize. I’ll get to it here hopefully soon. The guys have been great. The guys have been great. Once again, it’s all about the players. One thing I took from — another thing I took from Coach Belichick, he would always say that players win games and coaches lose games, and it’s our job as coaches to put the players in the position to go out there and play to their strengths.”
In addition to the trio of defenders, quarterback Mac Jones and long snapper Joe Cardona also were in attendance, as were two of Mayo’s former teammates in Devin McCourty and Rob Ninkovich.
“We love him. We love Mayo,” Bentley added. “And none of it’s fake. We genuinely love him. We’re excited about it and now we’re just eager to get to work.”