It wasn’t long ago that Jerod Mayo, the first new coach in New England in over 20 years, was bathing in the shower of Gatorade after his first shock win over the Bengals in week one. Flashforward a few weeks and there is a report or two that Mayo may already be facing a mutiny in that same locker room. The NFL is not just a what have you done for me lately business with the fans it’s also the case for the players and especially the owners. And well Mayo has lost 4 straight, including an embarrassment on primetime against the rival Jets.
The Patriots haven’t exactly been getting blown out in fact a few plays here and a few plays there they might even have a chance to be near the top of their division. This is great in a fantasy land but that is not where we live, we live in the real world and in the real world the Pats are dead last. So what’s wrong, the defense seems to be serviceable and even good sometimes and the special teams are unquestionably better than last year. Despite some fumbling issues the running game has actually carried them to some form of competitiveness, so what's wrong. Jacoby Brissett.
By all accounts Brissett is a stand up guy and a leader but clearly he has shown he is not a starting caliber quarterback in the NFL. He can’t really push the ball down field and when there is pressure he takes shot after shot after shot because he can’t find his way through it, this is not always his fault. But When you're in games it feels like you can win it’s hard to not see when the QB is not doing their part. This is why Brissett is being paid though to take shots on a bad team, to buy time for the next big thing in New England, Drake Maye.
Drake Maye is the highest draft pick for New England in decades and he is supposed to be franchise savior. That night when Maye was selected the new coach Mayo became unmistakably connected at the hip with him. You see not many coaches make it past 1 young quarterback and it’s likely Mayo will be no exception. In simple terms, Maye succeeds, Mayo keeps his job, Maye doesn’t succeed and Mayo loses his job. It’s a difficult reality but the reality all the same. Maye's success is Mayo’s.
When your job sort of rides on the success of one player you're likely to take the best route for their success. For Mayo and the Patriots this seemed to be sitting Maye and letting him develop slowly over time, maybe even a full season. A season that even with Maye many fans of the team expected to be unsuccessful. However with a team that is damn near competitive and rising reports that even in preseason before he lost the job that Maye looked better than Brissett it’s hard as a locker room to believe in a coach that isn’t fielding the best team. A mutiny is likely a too far a word for what is likely frustration in the New England locker room, but the frustration is valid players want to win and in a sport like football it’s not like time is endless for these guys. Frustration can destroy a locker room and when that frustration is valid it can be a bomb destroying everything in its path.
So whether this was the time or not, last week seemed a better choice but nonetheless Drake Maye has been announced as the starter. For Mayo there is no going back now, the Maye mania is in full effect and with it the clock for Mayo to turn this team around. Maye might prove to be successful, more young quarterbacks fizzle out then shine but the Patriots current regime can’t afford that thought, they need this one to work or before long it’ll be Mike Vrabel roaming the sidelines. The Maye era has officially lifted off and it’s likely it’ll be more successful than that of Mac Jones and Cam Newton but Brady looms large and the fans in Boston have grown a taste for winning. Mayo best not wait too long before he gives them what they want, just look and see how fast they put Belichick on his ass when he didn’t.
Kaleb Unger
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