🧪 The Mayo Clinic

Good Morning, Boston

🏆 Find something you love... as much as the NBA loves scheduling Celtics-Knicks in primetime. Hey, if Boston’s going to win a title every time it faces New York in its season opener, that’s a tradition we can get behind.

What’s on tap today:

• Pats lacking protection?

• A major (league) debut

• Fault in our stars

Let’s get into it…

LEADING OFF

Jerod Mayo’s “Patriot Way”

We’re learning a lot about Jerod Mayo. The 2024 Patriots won’t really take the field for a few more weeks so we can’t say anything definitive about how good Mayo is at his job just yet. But the first-year coach has shown us enough glimpses of who he is behind the headset for us to know what kind of coach he’ll be – and how he can turn the Patriots around.

He’s reasonable…but can throw down the gauntlet. Mayo has had to navigate a few minefields in his first months as head coach, most notably around a vocally disgruntled Matthew Judon. He’s proven he can be both even-keeled and tough, stepping up to an animated Judon on the first day of padded practices and laying down the law about fights ahead of joint practices with the Eagles. In each case, Mayo has made sure everyone knows where he stands and what he expects from them.

He’s different…and yet similar to Bill Belichick. All this open communication feels like whiplash compared to the famously gruff press conferences and quotes we’d get from Mayo’s predecessor. But Mayo’s approach of prioritizing practice over preseason games for his starters is a page ripped right out of Belichick’s book. He’s even quoted Belichick a couple of times — usually when posed questions he doesn’t want to answer. Mayo might be his own man, but he’s not entirely reinventing the wheel.

His approach fits the Patriots’ current reality. The key is that Mayo is taking what he’s learned from Belichick and using it to establish new expectations — not recreate what was. He knows how important Drake Maye’s development is and has been very deliberate about getting him up to speed. Mayo also has openly acknowledged the Patriots won’t attract marquee stars unless he and his team prove themselves on the field. Demanding competitiveness while maintaining a realistic future outlook is a tough balance to strike. But Mayo knows that’s the job for this year.

Mayo matters a lot to the Patriots’ future. Naturally, Maye’s development will matter most when it comes to New England’s future. But Mayo’s own progression is worth watching. Players still came to Foxboro to play under Belichick after Tom Brady left. Pittsburgh might not offer Brandon Aiyuk great quarterback options, but they do have a popular coach in Mike Tomlin. If Mayo can keep this team together through what may be a hard 2024 season, he’ll earn some respect around the league and start building his own reputation as a leader.

BOSTON SPORTS

Quick Hits & Headlines

🔄 Don’t sweat the Matthew Judon trade rumors. According to reports, teams have been sniffing around Judon’s availability as he and the Patriots continue their contract stalemate. But this feels more like due diligence than a sign of a trade being imminent. Judon’s age and recent injury history will probably deter teams from giving the Patriots what they’d want in return, and the star pass-rusher is still one of the best, most well-liked players on the team.

😬 The Patriots’ offensive line is a mess. That’s not a surprise given the state of the roster. But you still don’t want to hear reporters claim New England’s QBs had “no chance” to operate the offense because the Eagles overwhelmed the protection up front in Tuesday’s joint practice. Thank goodness coaches don’t let defenders hit QBs in training camp, or else Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye might not have made it to Thursday’s preseason game. Best get the ibuprofen and ice bags ready this season.

⚾ Mickey Gasper has a debut to remember. Shoutout to Alex Cora for pinch-hitting Gasper, a Merrimack, NH native, in the bottom of the tenth inning Monday night. Watching the mustachioed Gasper stroll up to the plate looking like a 1920s construction worker, work a one-out walk in his first MLB plate appearance and sniff the Fenway Park dirt at first base was a baseball moment straight out of “Field of Dreams”. Even better: that walk set the stage for Rob Refsnyder’s game-winning single in the next at-bat. This man is an old-school-style fan favorite in the making.

BEYOND BOSTON

Out-of-Town Report

The injury bug bites J.J. McCarthy. Remember all the talk of the Patriots taking J.J. McCarthy in the first round? Well, the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft will reportedly be out “indefinitely” after suffering a torn meniscus in his first preseason game that will require surgery. You can get hurt at any time playing football, but serious injuries in preseason games sting even worse. So let’s keep Drake Maye in one piece, please.

Haason Reddick wants out of New York. You think the Cold War between Judon and New England is bad? The Jets traded a conditional third-round pick for Reddick, who requested a trade from the Eagles over a contract dispute … only for Reddick to later demand a trade from New York because they haven’t paid him yet. He’s now holding out of practice while the team insists they won’t deal him away. Jets gonna Jets.

USA Gymnastics is going to war for Jordan Chiles. The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Team USA’s offer of definitive evidence to support Jordan Chiles keeping her bronze medal in the floor exercise, stating their ruling that Chiles must return her medal is final. Time for the United States to earn that 41st gold medal of the summer in one of its favorite events: litigation. Also, shoutout to Flavor Flav for hooking Chiles up with this crazy bronze medal-inspired bling.

TOP PLAYS

The Best Thing I Saw in Sports

The Patriots’ new dynamic duo shows out. The offensive line can’t ruin 1-on-1 drills. This Drake Maye-to-Ja’Lynn Polk connection might feed families.

Mookie Betts comes back with a bang. Being able to miss two months of baseball and immediately launch a bomb upon returning to the lineup is next level. We miss you, Mookie.

Chris Sale snags a shot. If he was still with his Sox, his entire hand is flying off, right? No, seriously, he broke his pinky on a play just like this.

HOT TAKES

LAST CALL

Please don’t make excuses for Jarren Duran. You can like him as a player and keep rooting for him after he returns from his two-game suspension for using a homophobic slur toward a heckler on Sunday. Hopefully, he learns his lesson from this and removes that word from his vocabulary. But what he did is still unacceptable. End of story.

They Said It, Not Me

A.J Brown Weighs in on

That’s a wrap🗞 I’ll be imagining Jerod Mayo saying this to his team before practice:

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