Jerod Mayo

Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo made his weekly appearance on the Mut & Merloni show Friday morning as part of WEEI’s Patriots Friday.

The Patriots open the season Monday night in Miami. Last season, the Patriots ranked in the bottom half of the league in total defense. Mayo was asked if there’s a chip on the shoulders of the defense heading into this season.

“Yeah, there’s a chip on the whole team’s shoulders, to be honest with you,” he said. “We want to win games, and continue to win. When you look at stats like that, at the end of the day, it’s all about wins and losses. We struggled at times last year, and we also had good games at times. We’ve got to continue to work hard and get better.”

Following are more highlights from the conversation. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

On being named a captain again: “It was a great honor, being selected by your teammates. I respect all these guys. What it means to be to be a captain is just making sure everyone is doing the right thing. Coach can’t always be there. Just kind of the eyes of the coach, and make sure everyone’s on the same page.”

On the challenges presented by the Dolphins: “Obviously, Brandon Marshall with his catch-and-run ability, he’s a big guy. He’s built like a tight end but also can run. Then you have [Davone] Bess in the slot, who can make a lot of people miss. And then you add a guy like Reggie Bush, who’s so versatile, he can motion out of the backfield, he can take a toss sweep, he can take a 2-yard run and turn it into an 80-yard run. So, they have a lot of weapons and they’ll be a good challenge for us.”

On changing the schedule so that the Patriots and Dolphins play in Foxboro in September and in Miami in December: “I don’t know how that stuff works. That’s a good idea, though. Call Roger Goodell about that one.”