Jerod Mayo Might Regret This Comment About Patriots ‘Strength’

The New England Patriots benefited from improved offensive line play in recent weeks, including their upset win over the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

The stats back up the eye test. New England allowed 11 pressures on 39 pass-blocking snaps against the Jets, per Pro Football Focus. New York finished with one sack. That’s a significant improvement for a unit whose success rate had previously been in coin-flip territory.

The Patriots deserve credit for making strides. Head coach Jerod Mayo still might regret his recent review of the group and those responsible, though.

“What was perceived, I would say, earlier on as a weakness on this team has now become a strength,” Mayo told reporters during a conference call Monday morning. “And that has been through Eliot (Wolf) and his team and the acquisition of guys like Lecitus (Smith).”

There are a few head-scratchers there.

“Strength,” for one, is a stretch. The Patriots don’t have many strengths, and of those perceived strengths, the offensive line still falls behind a handful of players and positional groupings.

To say the weakness was “perceived” stretches the truth, too. New England’s line was one of the lowest-graded pass-blocking units through five weeks. Veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett was under constant pressure in the five games he started. That was not perception, it was reality.

Even Mayo admitted the offensive line played a role in Drake Maye starting the season on the bench. Wouldn’t that mean Mayo “perceived” it a weakness, too?

Then there’s the nod to Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and omission of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, offensive line coach Scott Peters or assistant offensive line coach Robert Kugler.

Mayo credited Wolf for the midseason additions of players like Lecitus Smith and center Ben Brown can be included, as well.

Brown stepped in admirably in Week 6 and played 100% of snaps in each game since then. But Brown’s arrival came after Wolf failed to find a backup center behind David Andrews. And Smith, signed off the Green Bay Packers practice squad in mid-October, played just three offensive snaps against New York. It might be a little too early to sing his praises.

A theme through eight weeks is Mayo backtracking on his comments, and in some cases full on stepping in them. Should the Patriots offensive line not be a “strength” in the near future it will likely will be the case again.