FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jerod Mayo had consistently said he encourages his players to speak their mind to the media.
The Patriots’ young wide receivers might be taking the approach too far.
Mayo reiterated the message Monday when asked about wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale calling out teammates to the Boston Herald after the Patriots’ 32-16 loss to the Jaguars.
“I think just how I use the media sometimes for messaging, I think some of the players do the same thing. I’m not going to tell them, ‘Say this, say that.’ No, if that’s how you feel, if you feel like you’re the best player in the league, then go out and do it,” Mayo said. “If you feel like you want to challenge your brother beside you, I mean, go out and do it.”
Second-year pro Kayshon Boutte spoke out Wednesday, saying he’s frustrated when he doesn’t get targets because, “I’ve caught every ball that’s thrown to me this season.”
“So, I just feel like I would always go to the sideline and demand the ball,” Boutte told reporters. “So, whether it was that deep ball (against the Jaguars) – I asked for that. The Texans game, I asked for that. So, I feel like I shouldn’t have to really ask.”
Despite Mayo’s messaging, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt wants wide receivers to keep their focus on beating the Jets on Sunday, not airing out their frustrations to the media.
“I think we all understand we’re frustrated. Nobody’s going to be happy at 1-6,” Van Pelt said. “It’s just the reality of it. But I think that room in particular needs to keep the focus inward. We have a big game this week. All of our focus should be on getting a (win) on a Sunday. It’s a very good opponent coming in. I understand the frustrations. That’s part of losing football. Best way to take care of that is to get a win, but I think our focus right now needs to be solely on the Jets. It’s a challenge.”
Van Pelt did say that he “loves” that players want more production and that he’d be disappointed if a player was happy after coming out of a game with no catches.
Rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk said last week that he believes he has the best hands in the NFL. He leads the Patriots with two drops and had two targets hit his hands against the Jaguars just to have them defended away.
Bourne said it’s sometimes hard to find the line between being told players can speak their minds and not saying too much.
“You just have to understand. I talk a lot, and there’s a lot of things that can get twisted and stuff like that. But if you’re talking genuinely, and you’re talking from your heart to help your teammates, I think that’s what he wants us to do, instead of pointing at us, making it about me, pointing the finger at him. It’s his fault. No, it’s a group effort,” Bourne said. “If we can keep that mindset when we’re talking to you guys, then I don’t think it would be as crazy, but we’re just falling short of ‘it’s about me, it’s his fault and these things,’ so just focusing in on what really matters, and I think that’s what Jerod is getting at.”
The Patriots held a team meeting Thursday morning demanding more out of players. As part of Bourne’s comments after Sunday’s game, he said players have to make better personal decisions, whether that’s going to bed earlier or eating better.
Bourne stressed that he was not talking about wide receiver Pop Douglas, who was limited during Sunday’s game with a bout of food poisoning.
Rookie Javon Baker, who missed Friday’s practice in London with an illness and was inactive for Sunday’s game, believed the meeting went well.
“Just to put more effort in and work harder in practice,” Baker said.
Bourne said the meeting was about “trying to get refocused.”
“You could say it’s a lack of maturity,” Bourne said of the attitudes of younger wide receivers. “It just takes time. You come into the league, you got money, you’ve got to deal with your family and balance things out. …
“It’s just a new generation. Things aren’t the same. NIL is different. It changes these guys’ mindset. People who have been through it before, we just have to keep teaching these guys on what’s important.”
When Bourne was a rookie undrafted free agent for the 49ers in 2017, he missed a meeting early in the season, was benched and got relegated to scout team duty. He now uses that story to stress the importance of being team-first to the Patriots’ younger wide receivers.
“Going through that was the best thing for me,” Bourne said. “I couldn’t see it at first. Maybe I was pouty in the beginning, but then as the days went on, I started to understand, ‘OK, this opportunity for me to change things around.’
“And that experience allows me to help my guys. Now, whatever is in front of you, it’s a test. It’s your test to understand if you want to get past it, or you can keep sinking and falling more.”
Bourne also said that drama surrounding the team is tied to their six-game losing streak, and if they want things to change, then they need to start winning games.
HASSON REDDICK, star edge rusher for the New York Jets, will make his debut Sunday against the Patriots, interim coach Jeff Ulbrich announced Friday.
Reddick ended his lengthy contract holdout when he reported to the team Monday and was removed from the reserve/did not report list. He practiced all week and the Jets liked what they saw from him.
“Had a good week of work with us,” Ulbrich said. “He’s just such an experienced guy. He’s been in so many systems, so to pick up ours wasn’t super difficult for him. He really put in the extra time to learn it and, physically, he looked good out there. So, we’re excited about what he’ll contribute to our rush group.”
Ulbrich said Reddick will not have a specific snap count limit in his first game.
“He feels like he’s in good shape,” Ulbrich said. “And although he hasn’t been doing a whole lot of football stuff in a football capacity, he’s been doing a lot of position-specific stuff with pass rush specialists and he’s been doing conditioning and lifting, obviously. So we’ll just kind of play it by ear. I think a big part of that’s just going to kind of observe him on game day and see what he’s capable of doing.”
PATRIOTS’ 2022 SECOND-ROUND pick Tyquan Thornton was an offensive starter to start the season before seeing his snaps reduced to the point that he was a healthy scratch over the last two weeks.
Now, with Polk in concussion protocol, it seems the Patriots are giving Thornton another chance this week.
“Tyquan has done a good job in practice. Looking forward to seeing him in a game,” Mayo said. “He will be at the game. He’s had a great week of practice, and he’ll be there, and hopefully it translates.”
Thornton has caught two passes on five targets for 27 yards in five games this season. He hasn’t cracked the century mark in receiving yards since his rookie year, when he caught 22 passes for 247 yards with two touchdowns. He had just 91 receiving yards last season.
Wide receivers coach Tyler Hughes agreed with Mayo’s assessment that Thornton had a strong week in practice. However, it sounds like Thornton might be used to clear out space for other players to get open.
“He’s done really well. He’s been out there working. Tyquan, I think, is a guy that does really have like, a high football IQ, and he understands the spacing on the field and that, we talk in our room a lot, like when we run our routes, we need to run routes to get other people open sometimes,” Hughes said. “Sometimes we’re the primary target, sometimes we’re a secondary target, whatever it is. And I think Tyquan understands how our concepts fit together. Again, sometimes he’s the lead in that and sometimes he’s got to do some kind of different assignment to help free somebody else up. So he’s a valuable part of the team, because he’s good team player in that regard, and he’s having a great week.”
With Polk likely out, Boutte, Bourne and Douglas will likely take on the primary receiving roles in the offense with Thornton and K.J. Osborn serving as depth.
MAYO CALLED the Patriots “soft” after Sunday’s 32-16 loss to the Jaguars. Now, we’ll find out Sunday if they can use those words as motivation against the Jets.
Of course, it might complicate matters that Mayo walked back his statement on Monday, rectifying his quote to say the Patriots are simply “playing” soft. But multiple players in the locker room said this week that they want to prove that softness is not part of their identity.
“My job is always to challenge these guys and always show them what it is,” Mayo said Friday. “What I will say is we’ve had a good week of practice. We’ve had good weeks of practice. Now it just has to show up on Sunday.”
It hasn’t shown up during the Patriots’ six-game losing streak. They hit rock bottom Sunday against the Jaguars in London, and now they face a 2-5 Jets team that is far more talented than their record indicates.
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