Jerod Mayo’s Response To Patriots Dysfunction Helping Foster It

Jerod Mayo is unphased after three New England Patriots players publicly called out teammates and two others took their frustrations to social media.

Mayo chalked up the recent social media posts from Patriots wide receivers Ja’Lynn Polk and K.J. Osborn as their “freedom of speech.” He pushed back on whether the call-outs from Davon Godchaux, Daniel Ekuale and Kendrick Bourne could create a divide.

“I don’t think it creates a divide in the room at all,” Mayo said during a video conference Monday morning after a 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. “I think just how I use the media sometimes for messaging, I think some of the players do the same thing.”

Mayo’s response to the recent dysfunction is helping foster it. His “soft football team” comment is not lost on anyone either.

The first-year head coach said he would prefer to keep some things “in-house.” He included Osborn’s social media post, which suggested the veteran’s unhappiness in New England, among those things. But Mayo also confirmed he would not censor players, similar to a message he shared during the offseason.

“I’m not going to tell them, ‘Say this, say that,'” Mayo said. “No, if that’s how you feel, if you feel like you’re the best player in the league, then go out and do it. If you feel like you want to challenge your brother beside you, I mean, go out and do it.”

It feels like there’s some wiggle room between telling players what to say and sharing what the organization would prefer to stay within the walls, no?

The Patriots are arguably the most dysfunctional organization in the league with their off-field storylines (legal troubles included) mirroring the embarrassing on-field product. Jacksonville was viewed as the most dysfunctional and they just doubled up New England across the pond.

A notable aspect of the whole thing is that this was the part of the job Mayo was supposed to be best at. He was hired as the replacement for head coach Bill Belichick in large part because the expectation was he could relate to players. Mayo was sure to bring a “less-hard-ass vibe,” right? Well, just seven weeks into his tenure coaches are pointing the finger at players and players are taking shots at teammates for the whole world to see.

The head coach isn’t doing anything to stop it. That’s only going to help it.