Image courtesy of the New England Patriots

Patriots Head Coach Jerod Mayo met with the media this morning in Indianapolis. He answered questions for roughly seven minutes. He opened up the media availability by addressing the perceived negativity regarding Bill Belichick.

“Look, it’s going to be different,” Mayo said of what the team is building following Belichick’s 24-year run with the Patriots. “At the same time, I would say Bill did a great job for a long period of time. I don’t want you guys to take this as, because we’re changing, (these are) shots at the previous regime. In saying that, we will do it differently. It’ll feel different, but at the end of the day, we would like to replicate the success that the prior regime had. I learned a lot from Bill and also his staff. But now we’ll see what this chapter looks like in the franchise.”

Both Mayo and director of scouting Eliot Wolf have come under fire recently for comments made that might come across as slights at Belichick. 

When talking about the new culture with the Patriots, Wolf said yesterday that there would be “[It] will be less of a hard-ass vibe,” A perceived reference to Belichick’s dictatorial style the past 24 years. 

Mayo did talk about other things including the quarterback position and what he looks for in a quarterback. He did not elaborate on what the team plans on doing at the position.

“The thing about quarterbacks for me, look, everyone wants the big arm, the mobility, and things like that.  But I do think it’s important just to get a good sense of what type of competitor that they are.  Their toughness, and things like that.  Those are things you really want to look for.”

Mayo also talked about his desire to retain unrestricted free agents Michael Onwenu and Kyle Dugger. 

“I love those guys, I love big Mike. I think he has the versatility to play guard or tackle. He’s one of those guys when he’s going, he’s dominant. With Dugger, I would say last year going into the season, there were some questions about can he communicate and all those things. He squashed all of that last year. He did a fantastic job in his new role without having Devin (McCourty) there.”

The Patriots will start evaluating players tomorrow. Defensive lineman and linebackers kick off the work outs at 3 pm.