Bill Belichick made one thing clear on Monday: There isn’t a player on the New England Patriots who can fill Jerod Mayo’s role.
The Patriots must turn to multiple players to replace Mayo’s presence on the field and in the locker room after the All-Pro linebacker went down with a potentially season-ending knee injury on Sunday in New England’s 37-22 win over the Buffalo Bills.
“We’re just going to have to get contributions from other guys — some at the linebacker position and some at other positions as well,” Belichick said on a conference call. “We’ll see how it all comes together. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for him and see exactly what his situation is. We have to be ready to move on without him.
“So, we’ll have to look to, I’d say, multiple groups, multiple players to do some of the things that he did. There’s no one guy who is going to — on this team — do what Jerod did. We’re lucky to have him, let alone another guy that can do all that too. It will have to come from a combination of guys somehow.”
Dont’a Hightower was out with a knee injury against the Bills, so the Patriots used a combination of linebackers Jamie Collins and Chris White and safety Tavon Wilson to fill Mayo’s role on Sunday. When Hightower returns, either he or Collins will take Mayo’s play-calling duties from outside linebacker, and Skinner will likely take Mayo’s place at middle linebacker, since he’s a solid run defender.
The Patriots also could look to run more 3-4 looks with Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich at outside linebacker and Hightower and Collins on the inside. Mayo is a stout run stopper, and having three 300-pound defensive linemen in the middle of the field could help make up for the linebacker’s loss.
Mayo was lost for the year in Week 6 last season, and the Patriots went 7-3 without him, so they have some experience in replacing the defensive captain. The Patriots had better linebacker depth last season, however, with Dane Fletcher and Brandon Spikes.
Mayo and running back Stevan Ridley, who also suffered a knee injury, are two of the Patriots’ vocal leaders, so the team will need one or more players to step up to those duties, as well.
