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Patriots-Rams preview: How Pats can slow down L.A.’s elite pass rush originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO — The Patriots are into the back half of their first season under head coach Jerod Mayo, and it’s worth drilling down on what exactly his team should be out to prove this year.
They should be focused on further solidifying that their quarterback of the future is, in fact, their quarterback of the future. They should be focused on figuring out what they have for 2025 at wide receiver and on the offensive line.
But there are bigger-picture goals to accomplish with the seven games remaining on the schedule. This is the time of year when Mayo and his staff can cement the culture they’ve tried to establish in Foxboro. Asked about that very topic on Friday, he brought up one player’s name — a player most Patriots fans probably wouldn’t know if they walked by him coming out of Bass Pro Shops at Patriot Place — who personified a key part of the standard they’re trying to establish in Year 1 of this new regime.
“It’s a work in progress,” Mayo said of the culture he hopes becomes woven into the fabric of the organization. “Anytime you’re trying to develop a culture, it takes a long time. I would also say culture is what you reward. You saw a guy like Jeremiah Pharms, who at one point in his career played offensive line, but at the same time he’s a defensive lineman, and he goes out there and practices every day, hard. He’s going to get more and more snaps on the field. That’s what you reward, and that soon becomes your culture.”
Pharms had one of the most winding roads to the NFL of anyone in recent Patriots history. He began his collegiate career at Sacramento State as a linebacker, then transferred to Delta Junior College in California before finally landing at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. After graduating, he played in the Arena Football League and the USFL and later signed with the Patriots practice squad in 2022. He was asked to gain weight…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-rams-preview-pats-slow-232852384.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-11-15 23:28:52
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