With 13 games still ahead for the 1-3 New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo is quickly reaching a crossroads during his first season as an NFL head coach.
Having lost three straight games, including two in disappointing fashion after consecutive losses of 24-3 and 30-13 to both the Jets and 49ers, it’s been a frustrating two weeks for a fan base that’s starting to get restless. They’ve watched a team that seemingly continues to go backward on offense while their defense, the one strength they seemed to have, has also started heading in that direction.
Mayo’s club is now about to be out in front of those fans for two straight weeks, and things might get rough if this team looks anything like it has the past two games. The hope is that a visit by a banged-up Miami Dolphins team can hopefully be their opportunity to stop the bleeding as the club embarks on a two-game homestand before they head to London to face the Jaguars in three weeks.
What things might look like by then is going to be interesting. When it comes to the trajectory of the Patriots’ rookie head coach, this might be one of the most important stretches he faces this season. As most of us know, Mayo’s job is likely safe beyond 2024, regardless of New England’s record at the end of this year. But with his club facing a significant amount of adversity, how he handles these next 13 weeks might set the tone for his future and determine whether or not ownership is forced to take a deeper look at things next January.
One key issue right now is it feels like Mayo’s going to have to do a better job of walking the fine line between being a player’s coach and a disciplinarian. As the lone bright spot for the club in Bill Belichick’s final season, the defense was the unit Mayo had hoped might help set the tone across the locker room.
“Yeah, I’m going to have my coach’s hat on for the majority of the time,” Mayo told WEEI earlier this offseason when it came to balancing his relationship with players. “What I will say is, especially on the defensive side of the ball, taking some of those philosophies that we had on the defensive side of the ball and really spreading it through the rest of the team.”
As a coach under Belichick and as a former player, Mayo’s ability to be tough while also understanding the challenges the players faced made him someone his guys respected. Belichick’s style was old-school and tough, while Mayo was the perfect go-between for a generation that isn’t the same as it was 20 years ago.
With Mayo since taking the reigns as the team’s head coach, it’s been a point he’s emphasized more than once as he’s embarked on this journey. It’s also one Patriots owner Robert Kraft has echoed for much of the offseason.
“I know the players, when we’re not talking about football, which I think is important, especially with this generation,” said Mayo back in April when it came to his philosophy. “Being able to talk about different things is important, and really showing the players that you care about them and their development, not only on the field, but off the field. So that’s the way I kind of think about it.”
That relationship and how players responded was the key thing that reinforced Kraft’s decision to name Mayo as head coach after the team and Belichick parted ways at the start of the offseason.
However, Mayo’s quickly finding out the dangers when that line starts to become blurred.
Part of those issues have already crept up. Star running back Rhamondre Stevenson has opened the season by fumbling in four consecutive games, with Stevenson catching a break on the first three, while finally having one end up as a turnover this past weekend against the 49ers.
After not addressing it previously, Mayo finally took action on Sunday. Following the turnover, Mayo sat him briefly for a series, with the two also seen having a discussion on the sideline. Stevenson later came back in and finished the game while at least appearing to get two hands on the ball a little more frequently than he had been for the remainder of the contest.
“To me, a lot of this stuff goes back to body language and showing discipline,” said Mayo after the game when asked about it. “I always talk about those type of things, and there’s no one out there more disappointed than Rhamondre as far as his ball security issues are concerned. It was a talk. Look, it is what it is. Change the page, and let’s move forward.”
However, Mayo appears to have a bigger issue he’s going to need to address. Earlier this week, Davon Godchaux and Jabrill Peppers revealed during their respective press conferences that there are guys on defense that are being “selfish,” which is putting them in some tough spots. For a unit that had been pretty solid at the start of the season, they’ve been allowing an uncharacteristic amount of big plays, which played a significant role in their two most recent losses.
During both of these games, they’ve played quarterbacks in both Aaron Rodgers and Brock Purdy, who each did a good job when they were allowed to make plays outside the pocket.
That’s been a point of emphasis in past seasons, which was something we’ve always heard Belichick talk about at various points during his tenure. We’ve also seen it first-hand when the team has faced players like Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, and it’s been a big key in those types of match-ups.
However, we saw issues at various points in their Week 2 overtime loss to the Seahawks, where Gino Smith was also able to move around a fair amount as he put up 327 yards passing along with a touchdown. But it’s since continued, and it’s now becoming a problem.
Following the game against the Jets, Mayo was visibly frustrated, given what they allowed Rodgers to do as he repeatedly made plays after they let him get outside.
“He was getting the ball out fast,” said Mayo of Rodgers after that game. “I would say one of the more disappointing things that we talked about, ad nauseam, was to keep him in the pocket. I felt like we, at too many times, let him out of the pocket, and this is a guy who can make all of the throws.”
The same thing happened on Sunday early in that contest. Purdy burned them twice on the 49ers opening drive after New England’s defense went after him but didn’t stay disciplined on the edge. Instead, they overpursued him, with Purdy picking up runs of 7 and 5 yards respectively on third down to move the chains and extend the drive.
They ultimately held the 49ers to a field goal, but it was a bad omen. It’s also something that has since had some rumblings that point the fingers at players who don’t appear to be abiding by what they’re trying to do.
To make matters worse, their secondary, a unit that is considered to be their strength, also faltered. Purdy burned New England for several big pass plays, hitting throws of 38, 53, and 45 yards, respectively, but the most alarming part was the fact two of those plays came after the 49ers twice went right after their defense on the first play on two consecutive drives, catching New England off guard both times.
Former safety Devin McCourty used to talk about the “get the [expletive] back” philosophy their defense took pride in. That was something that was unfortunately missing on Sunday.
The 53-yard completion was the second pass of 50 yards allowed this season, with Derek Metcalf having put up one of 56 yards on his touchdown back in Week 2. Last season, the Patriots gave up just one pass of 50+ yards, which was a 51-yard play by Dalton Kincaid, and it didn’t come until Week 17 against the Bills.
The last time multiple players made big receiving plays happened in 2022, which saw a similar showing when both Garrett Wilson (54 yards) and Denzel Mims (63 yards) each came up with two big catches for the Jets in Week 8.
As a result, there are issues that point at cracks for a team that was thought to have at least one side of the football they could rely on. Both Peppers and Godchaux pointed out that all is not well on defense, and Mayo faces the challenge of trying to reel these guys in before things skid any further off the rails.
“We just all got to be on the same page, man,” said Godchaux during an appearance on WEEI’s Jones and Keefe on Monday. “We got guys, just to be honest, we got guys, some guys just being selfish. Because guys, I get it, I mean, we’re down, guys want to make plays. I get it, but everybody got to play. I’m talking about defense. Everybody has to play as 11, and everybody has to sacrifice to do what’s best for the team. I know some guys want make plays when we’re down, trying to get back in the game, but we got to just keep going as a team and play team defense.”
Mayo actually alluded to this earlier in the offseason. He talked about his philosophy when it came to the guys on defense, saying at the time that he gave guys the freedom to try and make a play as long as they stayed within what they were trying to do. He explained it as a canvas players were free to paint, but explained that they needed to stay within it, on both sides of the football.
“We brought in 17 new coaches all with great energy, but they also have to be firm,” said Mayo. “We have things that we need to get done. Accountability amongst the players is always a big thing. Whether you have a player hat on or a coach’s hat, we’re all responsible and our job as coaches are to put those guys in the right place so they can go out there and make plays. I always say, ‘Look, here’s your canvas. I don’t care what picture you paint on the canvas, just stay on the canvas.’ And as long as we do that, I think we’ll be going in the right direction.”
That’s something that doesn’t appear to be happening at this point.
While Peppers and Godchaux didn’t point fingers at anyone in particular, this will absolutely be something to keep an eye on. The club has been down this road previously and Jamie Collins, a freakish athlete that was a big part of New England’s defense for a stretch, was a player who was said to be freelancing quite a bit, leading to frustration with the coaching staff.
It apparently reached a point where Belichick ultimately made the decision to both sit him down and eventually part ways with Collins, which sent a message to the rest of the locker room.
Mayo now needs to figure out his own way to keep these guys in check. The issues on offense are well-documented, with that unit facing problems of its own that might ultimately determine Alex Van Pelt’s future with the football team. But Mayo’s future, while seemingly solid for this year, will be determined by what state the team is in by the time January gets here.
While Kraft spoke earlier this offseason about hoping his team wouldn’t struggle, he likely felt that way due to their level of talent. However, having them struggle because guys are going outside the lines Mayo has put in front of them is a different story, and it’s one that Mayo will need to hopefully get a handle on starting this weekend against the Dolphins.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
Aside from QB and Jaelin Phillips, this Miami team is not all banged up. And why is it that everyone expected 0-4 in Sept and when its 1-3, there’s an uproar? They have looked pathetic on offense, and even that was in the range of expected outcome – at least to start with this season. Certainly it’s a watch item if players act out under the new regime – but are we over reacting there to Pop D body language etc? Look at the Dolphins fans walking out of he stadium vs Tenn with a full quater to go and… Read more »
This is a situation for Mayo to shine. Maybe not in the Win/loss column but in holding the team together. I think we’re over-reacting to a few frustrated players and a Keion White etc for free lancing for sacks. You should want guys frustrated when it’s not going well.. That’s a none issue to me. Keion White getting singled out for free-lancin…. that’s good. I would assume Keion will reel it in else the coach will start to sit him. As for the D, every year is different. The pats lost Judon and Baremore and Lawrence guy. The key difference… Read more »