How Jerod Mayo Felt About Javon Baker’s Post-Draft Comments

FOXBORO, Mass. — Javon Baker gained plenty of attention with his headline-grabbing comments after he was selected by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Jerod Mayo was among those to tune in.

And while the Patriots first-year coach said he didn’t have a problem with what the motivated wideout shared, Mayo knows it’s now up to Baker to prove they weren’t empty words.

“Honestly, like for me, I want these guys to have a personality; I want them to feel free to talk about certain things,” Mayo said before the Patriots rookie minicamp at Gillette Stadium on Saturday. “Look, we’ll have rules of what to talk about. But now, once he puts it out there, he has to show it every day out here on the football field.

“If not, he’s just a talker and you start to lose the respect of the locker room and things like that. So, he said it, he put that out there, and now you have to show us.”

Baker took the field for the second and final day of rookie minicamp. He served on what could be classified as New England’s all-rookie starting lineup and went through individual drills behind only second-rounder Ja’Lynn Polk.

Given the media-open session Saturday was played in shorts and jerseys and never at full speed, Baker didn’t have much of an opportunity to show off his physicality and big-play ability. But those opportunities will come, and Mayo will be waiting to see if Baker can back up his words.