FOXBOROUGH - Keion White pushed some buttons and caused a stir by comments made in a story I wrote Friday at MassLive.
Following Saturday’s blowout loss to the LA Chargers, I approached White, given Patriots coach Jerod Mayo had said prior to the game that the defensive end didn’t mean what he said in the story.
White told me, and other reporters later, that he wasn’t taken out of context. His words about his play, the coaching staff and his future weren’t misrepresented.
“You wrote exactly what I said,” White said. “I stand by everything I said. If people choose to read the whole article, or just read the headline, I really don’t care how anybody took it.”
White acknowledged he and Mayo spoke on Friday, and hashed out the comments that were made. As Mayo also said during his pre-game hit on 98.5 the Sports Hub, White indicated they were fine, and on the same page about what’s going on.
White said he wasn’t asking out or to be traded. That wasn’t his aim, he was just telling it like it is.
“As long as we’re good on the inside, and me and Mayo have an understanding, I still rock by him, I’m still with him,” White said. “And me and him know what it is, and what it ain’t. People on the outside can take it any way they want to take it. It don’t matter to me.”
White said in the initial story he was concerned about his play, specifically his run defense, and was trying to work out those issues with the coaching staff. Notably, he wasn’t confident those issues would be resolved before season’s end, and talked about seeing “where the cards may lie for my future.”
“I stand by that. If you’re not producing in the NFL, you should get out,” White said. “If you’re not useful, not get out, but things should be changed. That’s anybody.
“It’s a production based business. Whatever you gotta do in everything, me included, that’s what you gotta do. I don’t hold no ill-will towards anybody. And I know it’s a ‘what have you done for me lately’ league, and I accept that. It is what it is. I acknowledge I’m not doing good at run defense. We’re not getting pressure on the quarterback right now. That’s production.”
Justin Herbert had plenty of time to pick about the Patriots defense en route to throwing three touchdown passes. He wasn’t sacked. He was barely touched. Meanwhile, the Chargers rushed for 147 yards.
And speaking of change, that’s at the heart of White’s remarks. With the team now 3-13 after getting blown out 40-7, White believes something has to give.
“I think, still, something gotta change,” he said. We’re losing, so obviously, we gotta change something. If you keep doing the same thing, you keep losing.
“If you do the same thing over and over again without different results, or changing anything, then you’re going to get the same results.”
White’s earlier remarks seemed to suggest there were internal problems with the coaching staff. The above remarks will have the same result.
Asked specifically how he was with the defensive coaching staff, White once again left that door open to interpretation.
“Like I said, if we keep doing the same thing ... something’s gotta change,” he said.
Again, he’s not concerned if that remark stirs the pot even more.
“There’s a lot of social media general mangers on the internet,” White said. “As long as I’m on the same page with my teammates, first and foremost, and every single one of my teammates doesn’t have a single problem with me, or hasn’t had a single problem with me all year. And we’re all on the same page, and we all stick by each other. That’s first and foremost what I care about.
“So as long as my comments haven’t divided us, I don’t care how anybody takes it. That’s anybody that’s not in this locker room, me, coaches, anybody. You’ll can take it how you want to take it. Me and the team, they all rock with me.”
Following Saturday’s blowout loss to the LA Chargers, I approached White, given Patriots coach Jerod Mayo had said prior to the game that the defensive end didn’t mean what he said in the story.
White told me, and other reporters later, that he wasn’t taken out of context. His words about his play, the coaching staff and his future weren’t misrepresented.
“You wrote exactly what I said,” White said. “I stand by everything I said. If people choose to read the whole article, or just read the headline, I really don’t care how anybody took it.”
White acknowledged he and Mayo spoke on Friday, and hashed out the comments that were made. As Mayo also said during his pre-game hit on 98.5 the Sports Hub, White indicated they were fine, and on the same page about what’s going on.
White said he wasn’t asking out or to be traded. That wasn’t his aim, he was just telling it like it is.
“As long as we’re good on the inside, and me and Mayo have an understanding, I still rock by him, I’m still with him,” White said. “And me and him know what it is, and what it ain’t. People on the outside can take it any way they want to take it. It don’t matter to me.”
White said in the initial story he was concerned about his play, specifically his run defense, and was trying to work out those issues with the coaching staff. Notably, he wasn’t confident those issues would be resolved before season’s end, and talked about seeing “where the cards may lie for my future.”
“I stand by that. If you’re not producing in the NFL, you should get out,” White said. “If you’re not useful, not get out, but things should be changed. That’s anybody.
“It’s a production based business. Whatever you gotta do in everything, me included, that’s what you gotta do. I don’t hold no ill-will towards anybody. And I know it’s a ‘what have you done for me lately’ league, and I accept that. It is what it is. I acknowledge I’m not doing good at run defense. We’re not getting pressure on the quarterback right now. That’s production.”
Justin Herbert had plenty of time to pick about the Patriots defense en route to throwing three touchdown passes. He wasn’t sacked. He was barely touched. Meanwhile, the Chargers rushed for 147 yards.
And speaking of change, that’s at the heart of White’s remarks. With the team now 3-13 after getting blown out 40-7, White believes something has to give.
“I think, still, something gotta change,” he said. We’re losing, so obviously, we gotta change something. If you keep doing the same thing, you keep losing.
“If you do the same thing over and over again without different results, or changing anything, then you’re going to get the same results.”
White’s earlier remarks seemed to suggest there were internal problems with the coaching staff. The above remarks will have the same result.
Asked specifically how he was with the defensive coaching staff, White once again left that door open to interpretation.
“Like I said, if we keep doing the same thing ... something’s gotta change,” he said.
Again, he’s not concerned if that remark stirs the pot even more.
“There’s a lot of social media general mangers on the internet,” White said. “As long as I’m on the same page with my teammates, first and foremost, and every single one of my teammates doesn’t have a single problem with me, or hasn’t had a single problem with me all year. And we’re all on the same page, and we all stick by each other. That’s first and foremost what I care about.
“So as long as my comments haven’t divided us, I don’t care how anybody takes it. That’s anybody that’s not in this locker room, me, coaches, anybody. You’ll can take it how you want to take it. Me and the team, they all rock with me.”
