Patriots coach Jerod Mayo talks to the media at the Coaches Breakfast at the NFL Owners Meetings in Orlando. (AP photo)

Jerod Mayo sipped his orange juice at the NFL’s annual Coaches Breakfast in Orlando, Fla.on Monday.

The difference was, he talked while he did it. No snarling.

The new New England Patriots head coach certainly offered a stark contrast to his longtime historic predecessor, Bill Belichick, who one memorable year was about as stand-offish as it gets. Mayo offered another difference, talking about some specifics in the upcoming NFL Draft, and the team’s plans going forward.

Mayo did one thing Monday almost unheard of in Patriots circles in the last 20-plus years. He talked about a specific player in the draft – North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, whom many feel will be there when the Patriots pick at No. 3 overall.

“Drake Maye had a fantastic interview at the combine,” Mayo said. “He brings a lot of energy, you can tell he has that leadership ability. Also the exciting about a guy like Drake Maye is the ceiling, there is really no ceiling with a guy like that. When we try to put together this roster, I know a lot of people look at the ceiling, but you also have to see how low is the floor? I would say a guy like Drake Maye, he has a lot of room to grow. He’s a young guy. Honestly he hasn’t played football nearly as much as these other guys, so it’s definitely something we’ll look at. But he’s definitely going to develop.”

As for LSU’s Jayden Daniels, who many feel will be taken at No. 2 by the Washington Commanders, Mayo said he had a Zoom interview with him, “and I met him before.”

Mayo said he’ll head to LSU after this week’s NFL Owners Meetings and then to North Carolina. But he said new Patriot front office member Alonzo Highsmith told him he’s seen that the majority of picks that don’t work out in the NFL is when there isn’t complete agreement on the pick with “coaches and scouts” or the proper “collaboration.” That,he says, is what he’s striving for.

But Mayo said that right now, when he first looked at the quarterbacks in the draft, it was a three-horse race. Now he feels there as many as five QBs “who could come in and be a starting QB in the future.”

Mayo said his number one thing with a quarterback “is a good decision maker”. And one of the things that “gets lost is competitiveness and toughness.”

The Patriots are looking to fill three big key offensive positions: Quarterback, left tackle, and wide receiver. “This draft has quite a few guys who can fill those rolls,” Mayo said. “Look, we sit at a very enviable spot where we can take someone at (No.) 3 or if someone offers a ‘bag’ as we would say, a lot of first round picks, we’d have to talk about those things as we continue to put together this team. There are holes on this team, but as we go forward there will be people available going forward to fill those holes.”

When asked if the staff as currently constructed is ready to support a rookie quarterback, Mayo quickly responded “One hundred percent.”

One of those is actually a player, free agent signing Jacoby Brissett. “Anytime you can get a player that is also a coach is beneficial,” he said. “And look, he has the tools to be a good quarteback. I look forward to working with him.”

Brissett was one of the few players signed outside the team. The Patriots brought back several veterans, including tight end Hunter Henry, Onwenu, receiver Kendrick Bourne, etc.

“One of the number one priorities we had was to sign our players back,” Mayo said. “It’s not a popular pick to sign an offensive lineman (Michael Onwenu) to a big deal, but at the same time he’s a critical piece to our team. We wanted to take care of our own, that was really the strategy going into it. We did have targets that we wanted, it just didn’t work out.”

The big splash isn’t always the way to go, Mayo said.

“Free agency everyone wants that big signing, but was we continue to put this team together, I think there has to be a process, a methodical process,” Mayo said. “When there is a guy we wanted to get, the Krafts have told us they’ll spend the money. Offensively this year, we were really picky as far as the players we were getting. And at the same time that wasn’t really a deep offensive free agent class to even make that type of splash.

“Now as I say that, the draft is coming up, there will still be conversations as far as trades and things like that, and guys will be released. So this is a process that is going to go on after the draft. … You want to draft and develop.”

“It’s all on the table right now,” Mayo said. “Eliot’s fielding calls, the scouts are fielding calls. As we get closer to the draft, the picture should get clearer.”

Mayo appeared to spill his OJ at one point. At least he didn’t glare at anyone when he did it.

“This team,” Mayo said, “is going to look different than last year’s team.”

In a lot of different ways, as he said, “on and off the field.”

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