Jerod Mayo Details ‘Very Upfront’ Chat With Patriots’ Weakest Link

After winning the first game of the season on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals, the New England Patriots have dropped two straight contests heading into Week 4 on the road against the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers.

The offensive line continued to be a glaring concern for New England in the 24-3 trouncing the New York Jets handed the Patriots in primetime last week. Quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye were sacked a combined seven times for a loss of 59 yards. The offense also lost a total of 24 yards when Brissett was sacked three times in New England’s overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2.

To put it simply, the offensive line just hasn’t been good enough, and Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo admitted he has had conversations with the group.

“It’s a very upfront conversation. I have the relationship, and so do the coaches with those guys, where you can be very transparent and open,” Mayo said, per team-provided transcript. “This isn’t good enough. I showed on one of my slides this morning just a picture of a mirror. Our job as coaches is to put the mirror in front of the players’ faces and remind them what it really is. It’s not about your mom, your brother, or cousins telling you it’s not your fault. It’s all of our fault. Once again, it starts with me.”

The first-year coach elaborated on the importance of the offensive line seeing everything through the “same set of eyes.”

“It’s more about reps. The protections that we run, a lot of teams run the same protection,” Mayo said. “What I showed them this morning, any time you have a free runner through the A or the B gap, it gives the quarterback no chance. We have to be inside-out in all of our protections. If the quarterback can see an edge defender being the free player, then he can make everyone else right, but that hasn’t been the case here.”

Mayo continued: “When you have a good offensive line, it’s not about the individuals. It’s about those guys being able to pass off those twist games, and going back to seeing the picture out of the same set of eyes. We’ve had guys in and out of the lineup, and we’ve got to get some continuity there and go from there.”

The Patriots have had some success running the ball early in the season, with an average of 144.3 yards per game compared to 102 passing yards. Mayo didn’t hide the fact New England planned to run the ball a lot in 2024. If the offensive line can’t provide Brissett or Maye pass protection, Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson could get a ton of carries this season. Stevenson already has 224 yards on 52 carries in three games. Gibson has seen his fair share, with 23 carries for 143 yards.