What Patriots’ first training camp looks like under Jerod Mayo

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:

1. Mayo’s stamp: It sure is different at Patriots training camp.

Three practices into Jerod Mayo’s first year as head coach, his personal stamp on the team and vision for the transition from the wildly successfully Bill Belichick era has shown up in several areas. Players have taken note.

“I think Mayo is doing a great job — his leadership style and how he’s morphing everything from the past and then also into the future,” said tight end Hunter Henry, who enters his ninth NFL season and fourth in New England.

“If you watch us practice, we’re a reflection of his energy,” added quarterback Jacoby Brissett.

Some notable examples:

Music throughout. Mayo keeps the tunes playing throughout practice instead of restricting them to the initial warmup period and competitive team drills. Last Thursday, for example, there were 30 different songs over the 105-minute practice, and they are picked by players who were offseason award winners. “I know it’s small, but it gets the guys excited,” Mayo said.

Offense vs. defense. There are more 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills that pit the offense vs. the defense, which reflects a theme of competition that Mayo has mentioned regularly. “We’re getting after it,” Brissett said. “From what I understand, that’s also what he was as a player.”

Later start. Practices start at 11 a.m., which is about 90 minutes later than recent years. Mayo explained his goal was to create more meeting time in the morning, allowing players to “tighten all the screws and know exactly what to do on the field so their athleticism can take over.” An earlier practice would require those meetings to take place the night before and “you don’t know if those guys really retain it the next day.”

Player lounge. Behind the scenes, a lounge has been created for players that includes billiards, PlayStation and a pingpong table, among other things. “I think it’s important to create those spaces,” he explained. “One thing I’ve noticed over the past, let’s say five years, is a lot of times when guys get a break they just go to their locker and get on their phone; they’re scrolling through social media and there’s really no interaction. That is also a time where they build camaraderie.”

Less can be more. Mayo said every practice won’t be two hours or more each day, as he believes in “undulating the schedule” and “continuing to confuse the body.” That means some shorter practices with higher intensity, or longer practices with slower periods within. “I think it’s important to do that and change it up, break up the monotony a little bit,” he said.

Player expression. Over the first three days of camp, Matthew Judon and Davon Godchaux spoke openly about their desire for new contracts, while Jabrill Peppers and Keion White conducted interviews shirtless. Those are things that often weren’t heard or seen in recent years, in part because they would come with repercussions. Mayo, who has stressed the importance of relationships, is OK with it. “I don’t want to put a cap on it. If the guy feels a certain type of way, he has the privilege to come out here and tell you how he feels,” he said.

In working to establish a culture in his image, the 38-year-old Mayo has also stressed how some of the core tenets he learned as a player under Belichick — such as how “being smart, tough and dependable makes a good team” — have been relayed to players.

It highlights a balance that Mayo hopes to strike: Paying appropriate respect to Belichick’s unmatched winning pedigree while doing it his own way.

Perhaps Peppers, who revered Belichick and agreed to a three-year, $24 million extension with the team Friday, summed it up best when he said: “I don’t really like to compare — that’s the thief of joy. But I just feel like it’s a new vibe and we’re going to run with that.”

2. OT shuffle: Rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s development is the most important storyline of camp, but a case could be made that the configuration and capability of the offensive line is right there alongside it. Because if the Patriots (last in the NFL in pass block win rate in 2023) can’t get it figured out up front, Maye won’t have a chance.

So if there’s one top thing to know from the first three days of training camp, it’s that the Patriots have kept their top interior O-line intact while shuffling around four top tackles — Chukwuma Okorafor, Calvin Anderson, Vederian Lowe and Caedan Wallace — depending on the day.

Okorafor, who opened at left tackle and then flipped to the right side on Friday, said the message from the coaching staff is to expect change every day early in camp. It seems to be a case of coaches assessing what they have at tackle before possibly locking in specific players.

3. Starters sit? Mayo is more open to sharing details on some of the internal conversations among the coaching staff, with one example last week when he said discussions are ongoing if the Patriots will play any starters throughout the preseason. “We’re still kind of on the fence thinking about how we even approach the preseason in general,” he said. “Those conversations are still going on.”

Belichick’s philosophy was essentially that the only way for players to prepare for games is to play in them, so starters would usually get some action in at least one preseason game.

Day 3 of Patriots training camp: Rookies involved in plays that generate largest cheers … how Drake Maye responded to his first INT … Chad Ryland gets leg up in kicking competition with veteran Joey Slye. pic.twitter.com/nSTWoEiWAU

— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) July 26, 2024

4. Maye’s impression: After finishing the spring No. 2 on the depth chart, Maye has solidified that standing through the first three practices, with Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton III rotating behind him as the third and fourth options. Maye’s highlight has been a 45-yard deep ball to Jalen Reagor in 7-on-7 drills, while his one notable “rookie mistake” came on a check-down interception to Judon.

How do Patriots defenders view Maye’s start to camp?

“He looks good, man. He’s getting more comfortable with the scheme, him and his guys are getting the right timing. He has exceptional arm talent,” Peppers said. “We’re making it hard for him [on defense] and he’s reading it out. He’s only 21. He has Jacoby to learn from, Jacoby’s seen a lot of football, so I definitely think he has a good mentor. And Kobe has been a willing mentor for him, so I think that is the best thing about it.”

5. Gonzo’s gesture: Before reporting for training camp, cornerback Christian Gonzalez surprised his family by buying them a new home. He shared video on Instagram of the day he broke the news, and explained after practice last week why it was so important to him.

“That was my lifelong dream. That was my whole reason I started playing football, to be able to take care of my family,” he said. “It’s still processing, but it was such a crazy feeling, an amazing feeling; to be able to see their smiles was something I’ve always wanted.”

6. Peppers’ week: Peppers’ week didn’t start off so well when he said he had to wake up early Wednesday as part of the NFL’s standard drug-testing procedures, couldn’t get back to sleep, and then didn’t finish the team’s first practice due to cramping. He jokingly referred to it as “technical difficulties”, but he was all smiles by Friday after agreeing to a three-year, $24 million extension.

7. Dugger finding voice: Fifth-year safety Kyle Dugger, who signed a four-year, $58 million contract in the offseason, is one of the Patriots’ softer-spoken players but evolving leaders. It’s a not-often-seen mix, and he explained how it is manifesting itself behind the scenes.

“It’s a feel thing. You don’t want to force anything and you need it to be genuine. Me, personally, I’m more of a 1-on-1 guy — pulling guys aside, letting them know what I expect from them and what the defense needs from them, and not putting them on blast in front of the room,” he said. “It’s just picking those spots.”

8. Future planning: The NFL has mapped out its rotating schedule formula for the next six years, which means the Patriots already know most of their future opponents in addition to standard AFC East home and away games with the Bills, Dolphins and Jets.

A snapshot of the next three years:

• 2025 home: Falcons, Panthers, Browns, Steelers, AFC West and NFC East teams that finish in the same spot in prior year’s standings

• 2025 road: Ravens, Bengals, Saints, Buccaneers, AFC South team that finishes in the same spot in the prior year’s standings

• 2026 home: Broncos, Packers, Raiders, Vikings, AFC North team that finishes in the same spot in the prior year’s standings

• 2026 road: Bears, Lions, Chiefs, Chargers, AFC South and NFC West teams that finish in the same spot in prior year’s standings

• 2027 home: Cowboys, Jaguars, Giants, Titans, AFC North and NFC South teams that finish in the same spot in prior year’s standings

• 2027 road: Texans, Colts, Eagles, Commanders, AFC West team that finishes in the same spot in prior year’s standings

9. They said it: “I’m not trying to be the guy who talks about what he’d done in the past, but I’ve been an All-American at left [tackle] before. I think [the media] are trying to make it a big deal. To me, it’s not really a big deal. Football is football.” — Okorafor, on playing left tackle after being exclusively on the right side through his first six seasons in the NFL

10. Did you know? Brissett has thrown an interception on 1.4% of his career pass attempts, tied with Aaron Rodgers for the lowest interception percentage of any quarterback (minimum 1,000 pass attempts). In 48 starts and 1,600 pass attempts, Brissett has tossed just 23 interceptions. Rodgers has 105 interceptions in 7,661 pass attempts.